This is the second in a
series of eleven articles on the top ten wilderness survival skills, things you
should know before you go into the wilderness.
To read the previous article go HERE – Author’s Note
The Number
Two, Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skill: Awareness
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An example of “Mackerel Sky”, cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds, which are a sign of rain to come within the next six to twelve hours, photograph by the Author.
Weather and
other hazards...
You
should always be aware of the changing weather and the various hazards of the
wilderness around you. You should learn
how to forecast the weather by the watching the cloud patterns and before you
enter any wilderness you should learn about and know how to avoid any of the
hazards that you might find there.
Weather
can change quickly and go from warm and sunny, to cold and rainy, and that can
be chilling! Don’t forget that wind and wet
can quickly chill you and KILL YOU!
During the spring or fall, and even during the summer, when wet clothes
might not freeze, they can still overcool you and cause hypothermia, and during
the winter, wet clothes are surely a killer.
Also,
every wilderness has its own hazards, which could include avalanches, poisonous
snakes, riptides, etc. Be aware of them
and take steps to avoid them or areas and situations which would put you at
risk of encountering them in an up close and all together unpleasant way!
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Estimating the time till local sunset, graphic by the Author. For more read “Estimating The Time Till Sunset©”, HERE.
When is
sunset?
It is important to be
able to estimate how many minutes of day light are remaining before the sun
goes down behind the local or apparent horizon.
Knowing how to estimate how long until the Sun goes down is important,
not only because the time of sunset varies throughout the year, but also
because the amount of daylight you have remaining, depends mostly on the
terrain that you are in, wooded, hilly or flat.
This is a well-known tip and is a must know for anyone who spends time
in the woods, I have used it often over the years. Oh, and here is a pro-tip, you should always
begin to setup camp when there are still at least two hours of daylight
remaining in the day.1
The science behind estimating
the time remaining until the local sunset, is that only the Earth moves, or
rotates, the Sun stays still and does not move across the sky, it only appears
to move or set. Since, the Earth rotates
through 360° in every 24-hour period, this apparent movement equals 15° per
hour. Additionally, your hands and
fingers are remarkably accurate measuring tools, and when you hold your hand at
arm’s length, your four fingers together measure about 6o or about
60 minutes of time2 and therefore each finger equals about 15
minutes.
To calculate the amount
of daylight remaining until sunset, hold your hands at arm’s length away from
your body, and count how many fingers fit between the bottom of the Sun and the
edge of the local horizon, be it a hill, ridge, or the top edge of a
forest. Dr. R. W. Oeslager wrote that
you should allow 10 minutes of daylight remaining for each finger, other
experts calculate approximately 15 minutes per finger3. I believe that the reason for Dr. Oelslager
estimated 10 minutes per finger, was that he was primarily writing for Boy
Scouts, who as young adults would have had smaller fingers and arms than an
adult would. Since each person's
finger-size varies, to make sure that this tip produces accurate results for
you, experiment at home with a watch, to see if you have 10- or 15-minute
fingers. My fingers give a particularly
good estimate of time, at 15 minutes per finger.
 |
From Bushcraft, Scouting & Woodlore: Notes, Vol. I, Figure 351
This technique will give
you a good estimate of the time remaining until local sunset, particularly if
you are near the equator. However, nearer
the poles, you might have more time before sun goes down, below the local
horizon, than you would estimate if you were closer to the equator.
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The same 30 feet, or 9 meters of trail. Notice how different the trail looks, looking forward (the picture on the left was taken from “a” while looking towards “b”), compared to when you are looking backwards (the picture on the right was taken at “b” while looking towards “a”). Graphics and photographs by the Author.
Don’t
forget to look behind you...
Be aware and pay attention to distinctive trees, rocks, and other
terrain features that are along your path as you travel through the
wilderness. You should always be aware of
and pay close attention to the landmarks you pass by, on your way to “there”,
wherever there is, since these landmarks will be important clues to look for,
on your way back. Memorize where
distinctive landmarks are, relative to where your starting point or camp is, so
that you can find your way back again.
Another thing that you should always do is to look back along the
trail as you travel, so that you will know what your return path will look
like. As you can see in the pictures above,
it always looks different.
For
more on finding your way read, “There and Back Again...Finding Your Way©”, HERE.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Top Ten Wilderness
Survival Skills...Number Three©”, where we will talk about having a good
survival attitude.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 You
should always set up or start back to camp, or if you are misplaced, start
building a shelter and a fire, before what woodsman call the “big dark”,
when there are eight fingers or about two hours of daylight remaining. This is like Emerson Hough’s First Strict
Camp Rule for hunters (from Out Of Doors, 1915) who were out during the
late fall or winter, which states, “…start
home at half past two or three in the afternoon”. By returning to or building you camp, while
you still have two hours of daylight remaining, you will reduce your chance of
having an accidental overnight adventure or injuring yourself as you make an
overnight trek through the wilderness.
2
From “Measuring The Sky”, April 19, 2009, Brian Ventrudo.
3
From “Calculating Sunset Time With Your Fingers” and “Let Your Fingers Tell
Time”, by Susan Newquist.
Sources
Farmers' Almanac Staff,
“Mackerel Sky – Weather Lore That’s A Bit Fishy”, Updated, September 20, 2021,
[Almanac Publishing Co., © 2021], https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-is-a-mackerel-sky-26275,
accessed October 12, 2021
“Calculating
Sunset Time With Your Fingers”, http://awesci.com/calculating-sunset-time-with-your-fingers/, accessed 11/27/18
Galindo, Sagay; “Breakdown:
Why a Mackerel Sky can mean changing weather”, January 12, 2021, [© 2002-2021
Gray Television, Inc.], https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/01/12/breakdown-why-mackerel-sky-can-mean-changing-weather/,
accessed October 12, 2021
Hough, Emerson; Out Of
Doors, (D. Appleton and Company, New York, New York [1915]) p. 269 - 282,
reprinted in https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadnZNQ1xrsbkS3T4VJlC_uZQ8t4yj2UNH5POGbNio-1SDyFM8TAqUfl7ciDY5CuNZxvnnE0Pcxf1j6Thu_zOs5kz8rgR9MOtsbTxVgRVa3bwaKo0-D5YX2T4JaBO_z6G8vgwFNgLiJ9XCfBVnn9K4qR7ZFa0faNe3zmvfWDfmEo049sqXQlw697XIHDWNblRJj9niiabZoBB7aQHl82tf4y03cpU2hMdLVADF-7P2pvJKsZbLDnJN8ncLZ9IftMudapmn8E, accessed 11/8/18
Newquist, Susan; “Let
Your Fingers Tell Time”, July 31, 2000, https://www.backpacker.com/skills/let-your-fingers-tell-time, accessed 11/27/18
Oelslager, Dr. Robert W.;
Bushcraft, Scouting & Woodlore: Notes, Vol. I, [Privately Published]
Old Farmer’s Almanac; “What
Does The Saying "Mare’s Tails And Mackeral...”, [©2021 Yankee Publishing
Inc.], https://www.almanac.com/fact/what-does-the-saying-mares-tails-and,
accessed October 12, 2021
Ventrudo, Brian; “Measuring
The Sky”, April 19, 2009, https://oneminuteastronomer.com/860/measuring-sky/, accessed 11/27/18
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