How to Find Your Way Without A Compass, Part Two, The Watch As A Compass©

Watches, Picture by the author

  

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

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 19^th and early 20^th 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

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.

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 180^o.  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 180^o. 

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.

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.

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.

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:

An excerpt from “Truth”, p. 656

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 180^o, which means that it moves 15^o an hour over 12 hours.  During this same time, the hour hand on your watch moves 360^o or twice as fast as the Sun, and this is why the distance between the “12” and the hour hand is halved.

 

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 19^th 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.

An excerpt from “Truth”, p. 656

Additionally, a note for reenactors and experimental historians: watches were expensive luxury items during the end of the 18^th century and were not commonly carried, except by the wealthy, until the early years of the 19^th century.  Therefore, for reenactors of the late 19^th century onwards, this would be a period correct skill.  However, for modern reenactors of late 18^th and early 19^th 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

Editor, “The American Architect And Building News”, Vol. XXX, No. 775, [Ticknor & Co Publishers, Boston, MA November 1, 1890] p. 75 https://books.google.com/books?id=HYdMAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA75&dq=finding+south+with+a+watch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyt5-xjZTjAhUjwFkKHen8Aio4hgMQ6AEIPDAE#v=onepage&q=finding%20south%20with%20a%20watch&f=false, accessed 7/1/19

Editor, “Truth”, No 718, Vol 28, [Bolt-court, Fleet Street, London, Oct 2, 1890] p 656 https://books.google.com/books?id=jEkxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA656&dq=finding+south+with+a+watch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyt5-xjZTjAhUjwFkKHen8Aio4hgMQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=finding%20south%20with%20a%20watch&f=false, accessed 7/1/19

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

https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZtaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA124&dq=finding+south+with+a+watch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGr-_ikpTjAhUQSN8KHWubA004_AIQ6AEIVzAJ#v=onepage&q=finding%20south%20with%20a%20watch&f=false, accessed 7/1/2019

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

https://books.google.com/books?id=l1MXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA134&dq=finding+south+with+a+watch&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiq8tyRlZTjAhXmY98KHcp-CdE46AIQ6AEIRDAG#v=onepage&q=finding%20south%20with%20a%20watch&f=false, accessed 7/1/2019

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

Thorsen, Steffen, “Daylight Saving Time – DST – Summer Time”, [timeanddate.com, 2019] https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/, accessed 7/1/2019

“Where Do the Sun and Stars Rise?” [Stanford Solar Center, 2005] http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/sunrise.html, accessed 9/8/18

Wikipedia Contributors, “1 in 60 rule”, [Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia, December 21, 2017] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_in_60_rule, accessed 7/10/19

Knapsacks and Rucksacks

 

Hand Book for Boys, 1953

Author's note: This is an older article that I wrote in 2008, I hope that you enjoy it. 

A pack is, basically, a large bag with attached shoulder straps.  There are many different types of packs, all made for different uses.  For day trips or times when you will not need to carry a large load, knapsacks or rucksacks are best.  A pack should contain everything that you need, except what goes in your pockets and in one hand.

Backcountry Camping, 1972

Knapsack is from the German word ‘knappsack’ and originally meant a sack carried on the back of a boy, or soldier.  A knapsack is rarely used for long trips or heavy loads.  It is usually used for day trips.  A knapsack is a boxlike bag, and many knapsacks have pockets sewed on the outside for carrying frequently needed items.  A knapsack should be about the width of your back and can be in various lengths or depths, depending on the load that you intend to carry. 

Backcountry Camping, 1972

Rucksack is a German word meaning back sack.  Rucksacks were originally used by mountaineers, skiers and hunters and are still used by anyone who needs their arms and shoulders to be unrestricted or whose balance shifts constantly.  It is usually used for day trips.  Many rucksacks, just like knapsacks, have pockets sewed on the outside for carrying frequently needed equipment

Wearing a Knapsack

The points of suspension of either a knapsack or rucksack should be near the neck.  This relieves the pressure on the back muscles and applies it directly down along the spinal column to the legs.  This brings the pressure over the strongest part of the shoulders, where it will cause the least discomfort.

A knapsack should be loaded so that it weight is high and close to the shoulders, it should not extend above your shoulders or below your belt. 

On Your Own in the Wilderness, 1958  

Note the bottom of the rucksack is resting on the small of the back and hips

Rucksacks should be carried low and tight against against the small of the back.  With a rucksack, you should let out the shoulder straps so that the bottom of the pack rests against the small of your back and hips, with more than half of the weight resting on your hips.  This way the full weight of the knapsack is not felt on your shoulders and your center of gravity remains low enough to assure good balance.

Packing a Knapsack

All heavy packs are uncomfortable to some degree or the other; the important thing in carrying a pack is to make your pack as comfortable as possible. 

A great deal of unnecessary discomfort can be avoided by carefully arranging the items that are packed into the knapsack.  When you pack a knapsack, make sure to place blankets, spare jackets or sweatshirts and other soft articles in first, next to your back, as a pad.  The part of the knapsack that is against your back should be as wide and as soft as possible.  Pack hard objects on the outside away from your back.  Also, place items on the bottom of the pack that will be taken out last or not needed often.  Place frequently needed items on the top; generally your raincoat or poncho, flashlight, first aid kit, drinking cup would be on the top.  Be sure to adjust the weight of the items so that the pack will hang on your shoulders evenly and not be lopsided.  Also, be careful that heavy objects are packed so that they will not shift and cause the knapsack to become lopsided. 

How much to Carry

 “…an ounce in the morning is a pound before night…” Horace Kephart

Military studies have shown that the ideal load for a soldier is 22% of the soldier’s body weight, with a comfortable sustainable load being 30%.  Studies have also shown that soldiers should not carry any more than 45% of their body weight.

Heavy loads not only increase fatigue, but will also decrease the distance a hiker can hike. 

Tips and Tricks

Almost every outdoorsman carries a small cloth ditty bag, near the top of his knapsack or in an outside pocket.  This catchall helps keep all of the little things that you may need along the trail organized.

Matches should either be, waterproofed with clear nail polish or paraffin, or kept in a waterproof container.  A cheap, but sturdy container is a Ziploc® style, 1 quart freezer bag.

A candle and tinder should be kept in a Ziploc® style, 1 quart freezer bag to be used to start fires, when it is wet or when other tinder sources are absent.  I put replacement tinder and kindling that I collect as I hike, in a waterproof bag that closes by folding over: that way if there is any residual wetness in it, it can dry inside my pack; this prevents condensation from accumulating in the bag and precipitation from re-wetting it. 

Food should be packed in Ziploc® style, 1 gallon or 2.5 gallon freezer bags, depending on whether the meal is for two or four people, one bag for each meal. 

For overnight trips, all food and “smellables” should be put in a separate cloth bag or in a pack and hung from a tree as a “Bear Bag”, to keep it safe from animals.

References:

Bill Riviere, Backcountry Camping, (Dolphin Books, Garden City, NY [1972]), p. 13-30

Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft: A handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness; 1921 (University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville [reprinted 1988]), Vol II, p. 122-129

Lt. Col. Raymond A. Millen USA, Command Legacy: a Tactical Primer for Junior Leaders of Infantry Units, (Brassey’s, Inc, Washington D.C. [2002]), p. 151

Headquarters, Dept. of the Army, FM 21-18 Foot Marches, (Washington, DC, [1990])

Boy Scouts of America, Hand Book for Boys, (New York, NY, [1953], p. 142-144

Col. Townsend Whelen and Bradford Angier, On Your Own in the Wilderness, (Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, [1958]), p. 50

Sap Is Really Sticky….

 

The author’s toiletries bag

Did you ever feel like you missed the memo?

I spend a lot of time in Algonquin Provincial Park and one thing that I have noticed is that there are a lot, A LOT, of pine trees there.  Where there are pine trees, there is SAP!  A lot of sap and every last bit of it is sticky, and it doesn’t wash off and it gets all over everything…did I mention that sap is really sticky!

So anyways, I am in the middle of the park when a guide friend of mine says, “Oh by the way, isopropyl alcohol gets pine sap off”.  I am left thinking “What? How did I not know this, did I miss the memo…”.

Now at least half of you are saying to yourself right now, “Wow, I can’t believe he didn’t know that”.  The rest of you are saying, “What? I didn’t know that”.

To get pine sap off your skin, rub some alcohol or hand sanitizer on your skin until it loosens and then rinse it away.  If it has gotten on your clothes or your sleeping bag or tent, carefully scrape the sap away (or put it into a freezer, if it fits and one is available) and then rub alcohol on the remaining spot with a cotton ball or rag and rinse thoroughly and wash as usual.

So, the hand sanitizer that you keep in your toiletries bag, with the toilet paper and the benzyl chloride baby wipes, actually does double duty.  It will get your hands, oh, so germ free and it will remove that really sticky, impossible to get off by any other means, pine sap.

References:

Eddie Carrara , “How To Remove Tree Sap From Anything”, https://dengarden.com/cleaning/removepinepitch, (accessed 9/15/2018)

Katie Herrel, “How Do I Get Sap Off My Gear?”, https://www.backpacker.com/gear/how-do-i-get-sap-off-my-gear, (accessed 9/21/2018)

“How to Clean a Tent”, https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-clean-a-tent.html, (accessed 9/21/2018)

Tips, Hints, Hacks and Wrinkles

 

Reprinted from Forest and Stream: A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, 1904

We all know what tips and hints are, but hacks and wrinkles, what’s that!  Is it a disease, can I catch it when I am in the woods?!

Well, no, and hopefully, yes.  Tips, hints, hacks and wrinkles are simply different words to describe the same thing: advice, helpful suggestions, a clue, expert information  or knowledge of a way of doing something that is infrequently written down and can only be learned by experience, hopefully someone else’s experience.

I hope that you keep reading my blog, because I am an avid collector of hints, tips, hacks and wrinkles, and on these pages I will share them with you.

References

Forest and Stream: A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, Volume 62, No. 18, April 30, 1904, (Forest and Stream Publishing Co.: New York, NY [1904]), p 358, reprinted in https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUYhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA358&dq=wrinkles+tips+camping+woods&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMi62Up8DdAhUFY6wKHa5XD-QQ6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=wrinkles%20tips%20camping%20woods&f=false, (accessed 9/16/18)