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Watches, Picture by the
author
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Okay, you forgot to bring
a compass with you, you are “misplaced” and you need to orient yourself. You are using the steps of the Survival Drill
to decide if you should stay put or if you should try to walk out (for more on
the Survival Drill, see “Survival
Drill”, Updated and Explained” HERE), but first you need to
reorient yourself. You are took an
inventory of things in your pack and pockets that could help you, and you
realized that you don’t have a compass, but you do have a watch.
No problem, everybody
knows, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, right? And, you are wearing a watch and with a
watch, you can use the Sun to find north and south, right? And of course, you know how to use a watch
and the Sun to find the direction of north and south, right? Right?
Well in case you don’t
know, here are the answers.
 |
An excerpt from “The
American Architect And Building News”, p. 75
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The method of finding the
points of the compass with a watch and the Sun was called “orientation by the sun with a watch”1 during the late
19th and early 20th centuries. “Misplaced” modern adventurers can use either
traditional analog watches or today’s modern digital watches, to find the
approximate direction, of the points of a compass.
 |
From Survival: Land,
Sea, Jungle, Arctic, p. 42, Fig. 17, picture by the author
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There are two methods for
finding the north-south line with a watch, one that is used for north of the Tropic
of Cancer, in the northern hemisphere, where you will find the general
direction of south, and one for use south of the Tropic of Capricorn, that is
used to find the general direction of north.
With both methods, it is
important that your watch shows Standard Time and not Daylight Saving Time, or
the result will be in error by as much as 16 degrees2. Daylight Saving time is used by many countries
in the northern hemisphere, starts in March to April, and ends during September
to November; while in the southern hemisphere it starts during September to
November and ends during March to April.
If your watch is set for Daylight Savings Time, set it back an hour, so
that your watch shows Standard Time.
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An excerpt from “Truth”,
p. 656
|
Something else that is
important to know, is what I call the “the six in the morning to the six at
night rule”. This rule was noted, but
not named, by both the editor of “Truth” and by John Phin, the author of the
“How A Watch May Be Used As A Compass”. This
rule states that for all hours between 6 o’clock in the morning and 6 o’clock
in the evening, you divide in half the smaller angle between “12” and the hour
hand, the angle that is less than 180o. From 6 o’clock in the evening until sundown,
and from sunrise until 6 o’clock in the morning, you bisect the larger angle
between “12” and the hour hand, the angle that is greater than 180o.
If you think about it, in
the northern hemisphere, the direction of south sweeps clockwise around the
watch dial from around “8” or “9” at sunrise, noon is at “12” and continues to
“3” or “4” at sunset. The opposite is
true in the southern hemisphere, with the direction of north sweeping clockwise
around the dial and at sunrise, north is opposite “8” or “9”, while at noon the
“12” points to north and at sunset north is opposite “3” or “4”. This important rule is, unfortunately, is
missing from most modern books on survival, that teach about using a watch to
find the compass points.
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Adapted from Survival:
Land, Sea, Jungle, Arctic, p. 42, Fig. 17, picture by the author
|
In the northern hemisphere,
north of the Tropic of Cancer, to find the north-south line using a
traditional or analog watch, point the hour hand at the sun, while holding the
watch in your hand, face up and level.
To make it easier to line up the hour hand with the sun, or if it is
cloudy and overcast, hold a twig or a matchstick on the edge of the watch, where
the hour hand is pointing, so that it cast a shadow. Alternatively, for greater accuracy in
determining the compass points, drive a stick into the ground, standing
straight up, and lay your watch on the ground with the shadow of the stick
falling along the hour hand and through the center of the watch. While holding the watch and the twig level,
turn in place so that the shadow is cast along the hour hand through the center
of the watch. Remembering “the six in
the morning to the six at night rule”, divide the angle between the “12” and
the hour hand in half, drawing an imaginary line from the center of the watch
through this halfway point, will give the general direction of south.
Remembering the “the six
in the morning to the six at night rule”, if it is four o’clock in the
afternoon, and you take half of the smallest angle from “12” and the Sun at “4”
the line pointing south will run through “2”.
If it is eight o’clock in the morning, and the “8” is pointing at the
Sun, then south is half the smallest angle between “8” and “12”, or “10”. At noon, since north of the Tropic of Cancer
the sun is always south of you, then if the hour hand is pointing at “12”, that
is the approximate direction of south.
Using the “the six in the
morning to the six at night rule”, if it is 7 o’clock in the evening, in the
northern hemisphere, then half of the larger angle from the “7” to the “12”,
will be between “4” and “3”, and that will point towards south. If it is “5” in the morning then half of the
larger angle from the “5” to the “12” will be between “8” and “9” and that will
point towards south. At 6 o’clock in the
morning south will be opposite “9” and at 6 o’clock in the evening, the “3”
will point the direction to south.
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This picture was taken on
May 26 at 12:48, Daylight Savings time, by the author.
|
North of the Tropic of
Cancer, to use a digital watch to find south, first place an upright stick in
the ground to create a shadow. Then draw
a picture of a traditional clock face on the ground, with the stick on the edge
of the watch picture, where the hour hand is, so that a shadow is cast through the
center of the picture. Using “the six in
the morning to the six at night rule”, divide the angle between “12” and the
hour hand in half, and drawing an imaginary line from the center of the picture
through the halfway point, this will give you the general direction of south.
 |
Adapted from Survival:
Land, Sea, Jungle, Arctic, p. 42, Fig. 17, picture by the author
|
 |
An excerpt from “How A
Watch May Be Used As A Compass”, The Seven Follies of Science, by John Phin, p.
134-135
|
In the southern hemisphere,
south of the Tropic of Capricorn, to find the compass points using a
traditional or analog watch, point the number “12” at the sun, while holding
the watch in your hand, face up and level.
To make it easier to line up the “12” with the sun, or if it is cloudy
and overcast, hold a twig or a matchstick on the edge of the watch at the “12”,
so that it cast a shadow. Or, for
greater accuracy in finding the compass points, drive a stick into the ground
so that it is standing straight up; lay your watch on the ground so that the
shadow of the stick falls along the “12” and through the center of the
watch. While holding the watch and the
twig level, turn in place so that the shadow is cast from the “12” through the
center of the watch. Using “the six in
the morning to the six at night rule”, divide the angle between the “12” and
the hour hand in half, an imaginary line drawn from the center of the watch
through this halfway point, gives the approximate direction of north.
Again, using “the six in
the morning to the six at night rule”, if it is four o’clock in the afternoon,
and you take half of the smallest angle from “12” and the Sun, to “4” the line
pointing north will run through “2”. If
it is eight o’clock in the morning, and the “12” is pointing at the Sun, then
north is half of the smallest angle between “8” and “12”, or at “10”. At noon, since south of the Tropic of
Capricorn the sun is always north of you, then if both the hour hand and the
“12” is pointing at the Sun, then that is the approximate direction of north.
Remembering the “the six
in the morning to the six at night rule”, if it is 7 o’clock in the evening, in
the southern hemisphere, then half of the largest angle from the “7” to the
“12”, will be between “4” and “3”, and that will point towards north. If it is “5” in the morning then half of the
largest angle from the “5” to the “12” will be between “8” and “9” and that
will north. At 6 o’clock in the morning,
north will be opposite the “9” and at 6 o’clock in the evening; the “3” will
point the direction to north.
South of the Tropic of
Capricorn, to use a digital watch to find north, first place an upright stick
in the ground to create a shadow. Then
draw a picture of a traditional clock face on the ground, with the stick on the
edge of the watch picture, where the “12” is, so that a shadow is cast from the
“12” through the center of the picture. Remembering
“the six in the morning to the six at night rule”, divide the angle between
“12” and the hour hand in half, and drawing an imaginary line from the center
of the picture through the halfway point, will give you the general direction
of north.
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An excerpt from “Truth”,
p. 656
|
It is important to
remember, however, that you can only determine the general direction of north,
south, east and west with a watch and the Sun.
As I pointed out in “How to Find Your Way Without a Compass, Part One”,
HERE: except on two very special days of the year, you will only be able to
find, “A rough approximation to the
direction…within about 20 deg.”3. This should good enough, however, for you to reorient
yourself.
What this all means to
the “misplaced” wilderness adventurer is, if you use a watch and the Sun to
determine your direction of travel, you will have an error in your heading. As the “1 in 60” rule of thumb shows, a 1°
error in your line of travel over one mile is not much (you will only be off
track by about 88 feet or almost 30 yards), however over ten miles, it is much
more. With an error of 20° in your line
of travel, you will be off track by a third of mile for every mile you travel. Over a larger distances, with only a watch
and the Sun to orient yourself, you might end up more lost than you were when
you started and for this reason, you should always carry at least one, but
better yet, two compasses with you when you are in the wilderness. For more on why having two compasses is
important see “Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, Circa 1915” HERE.
For those of you, who
would like to understand the science and the history of this method of using a
watch as a compass, please see the Appendix below.
For more on “How to Find
Your Way Without a Compass, Part Three, Using The Shadow-Tip Method”, check
back in following weeks.
I hope that you continue
to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and my videos at BandanaMan Productions.
Don’t forget to follow me on The Woodsman’s Journal Online and subscribe to
BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and if you have questions, as always, feel
free to leave a comment on either site.
Appendix
One of the questions that
I had, when I was researching how to use your watch as a compass was, what is
the science behind this method? Since I
had this question, I thought that some of my readers might also be curious, so
here is what I found.
On page 656, of “Truth”,
written in October 2, 1890, contributor T. A. T. Hallowes explained the science
of using a watch as a compass:
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An excerpt from “Truth”,
p. 656
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John Phin, in The
Seven Follies of Science, 1906, further explained how the watch as a
compass works.
 |
An excerpt from “How A
Watch May Be Used As A Compass”, The Seven Follies of Science, by John
Phin, p. 134-135
|
There is good science
behind this method, and a watch works as a compass “because of the mathematical relationship between the orbit of the sun
and the circle of degrees described by the watch dial”4. The Sun, from 6:00 am when it is in the east,
to 6:00 pm when it is in the west, passes through an arc of 180o,
which means that it moves 15o an hour over 12 hours. During this same time, the hour hand on your
watch moves 360o or twice as fast as the Sun, and this is why the
distance between the “12” and the hour hand is halved.
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| An excerpt from Plane Safety And Survival, p. 75 |
The other thing that I
was curious about since I am a reenactor and an “experimental historian” was, when
was using your watch as a compass first written about. The earliest reference to this method of
finding the general direction of north and south, that I could find was
reprinted in “Truth” on page 656 and is an excerpt from The Text-book of
Military Topography, which was originally published in 1884. One of the interesting things in this excerpt
from Col. W. Richards’s book was his statement that, “This simple expedient is useful on horseback, and it enables one to
hold a map with its sides nearly north and south without dismounting.”4 The reason that I found this interesting, is
that in the Art of Travel, 1872, by Francis Galton, he noted on on page 287 that “…compasses cannot be used on horseback without stopping…”5. Compasses during the mid to late 19th
century were air filled and from personal experience with using air filled
compasses, it would have been very difficult to settle the needle, while riding
on a horse; using a “watch as a compass”
to orient your map, would have been a clever “wrinkle” or trick.
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An excerpt from “Truth”,
p. 656
|
Additionally, a note for
reenactors and experimental historians: watches were expensive luxury items
during the end of the 18th century and were not commonly carried,
except by the wealthy, until the early years of the 19th
century. Therefore, for reenactors of
the late 19th century onwards, this would be a period correct
skill. However, for modern reenactors of
late 18th and early 19th centuries, who are interested in
direction finding and time telling, look for the upcoming article “How To Tell
Direction and Time Like Robert Rogers And His Rangers”, coming soon.
Notes
1 Editor, “Truth”, No 718, Vol 28, [Bolt-court,
Fleet Street, London, Oct 2, 1890] p 656
2 Risk, Paul, H., Outdoor Safety And
Survival, p. 285
3 Editor, “Truth”, No 718, Vol 28, [Bolt-court,
Fleet Street, London, Oct 2, 1890] p 656
The degree of inaccuracy
appears to be, as much as, 20 degrees, with the authors of Survival: Land
Sea, Jungle Arctic, 1944, noting “…you
can use a watch to tell true north or south with an error of less than 8
degrees.” Bradford Angier echoed
this in 1971, when he wrote “A watch used
as a makeshift compass … can be relied upon to be true within eight degrees”,
in How to Stay Alive in the Woods.
4 Ibid., p. 285
5 Francis
Galton, Art of Travel, 1872, p. 287
Sources
Airlines War Training
Institute, Survival: Land, Sea, Jungle, Arctic, [The Infantry Journal,
Washington, D.C., 1944] p. 41-42
Anderson, Eric G., M.D.,
Plane Safety And Survival, [Aero Publishers, Inc, Fallbrook, CA, 1978] p. 51-63, 75
Angier, Bradford, How to
Stay Alive in the Woods, [Orginally published as Living Off The Country: How to
Stay Alive in the Woods, Collier Books, New York, NY, 1971] p. 182
Department of the
Airforce, Outdoor Survival Skills: How to Survive on Land, Sea and Ice!,
[Info Books, Toronto, Canada, 1980] p. 2-86
Craighead, Frank, Jr.,
Phd, and Craighead, John J., Phd., How to Survive on Land and Sea,
[United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD, 1956] p. 11
Galton, Francis, Art
of Travel, 1872, [Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, 1971], p. 287
Louis, The Blacksmith and
Wheelwright,Vol. XXXVIII, No. [M. T. Richardson Company, New York, NY, July
1898] p. 124
Phin, John, “How A Watch
May Be Used As A Compass”, The Seven Follies of Science, [D. Van
Nostrand Company, New York, NY 1906] p. 134-135
Risk, Paul, H., Outdoor
Safety And Survival, [John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1983] p 284-285
Stevens, E.E., “The Handy
Compass”, Labor Digest: A National Magazine for the Advocacy of Industrial
Peace, Vol 3, [Minneapolis, MN, December 1910] p. 10-11
