While hiking in remote areas is a great experience. One major skill you will need is to navigate without compass. While no one should head off the beaten track without map or compass, you have to be prepared for situations where you may lose or damage your compass?
How to Navigate Without Compass
Navigating With A Watch
If you have a watch that is set to local time, you can determine a good approximation of the points of the compass as long as the position of the sun is visible. The method used varies depending upon which hemisphere (northern or southern) that you happen to be living in.
- Northern Hemisphere
Holding your watch horizontally, point the 'hour hand' of your watch at the sun. Note the direction that lies exactly midway between the 'hour hand' and the numeral twelve on your watch. This will be South. Once you have established this, it will be easy to determine the other points of the compass.
- Southern Hemisphere
Holding your watch horizontally, point the numeral twelve on your watch at the sun. Note the direction that lies exactly midway between the twelve and the 'hour hand'. This will be North. These methods will give you a good approximation of compass direction and are not intended to replace the accuracy of a compass. If your watch happens to be adjusted for daylight saving at the time, then 'remove' the daylight saving for greater accuracy.
Navigating Without A Watch
This method takes longer and also requires enough sunlight to cast a shadow
- Drawing an Arc Method
Before noon, on level terrain, position a stick of about 3ft upright into the ground. Mark the tip of its shadow with a peg or stone. Using the tip of the shadow as a radius, draw an arc around the stick. The shadow will shorten as it approaches noon, pulling back from the arc. It will then lengthen again - where the afternoon shadow once again touches the arc, place another peg or stone. Now draw a straight line between the two pegs/stones - this will be an East/West line, with the first peg being in the westerly direction. You can now draw a North/South line at right angles to the East/West line.
- Without drawing an arc.
Peg the tip of the first shadow, then about 20min later peg the tip of the moved shadow. Draw a straight line between the two pegs, and this will be an approximately East/West line, with the first peg again being the westerly one.
A typical error when lost, is a tendency to wander off what you may think is a straight line bearing, sometimes even slowly circling back on yourself. To prevent this, note an object (tree, rock, terrain feature) that lies directly ahead of you in the direction you wish to travel, then aim for it. When you reach it, take another bearing on the direction you wish to head, sight another object directly ahead of you and repeat the process.In areas of restricted distance visibility, you may have to repeat this quite often over short 'legs' to ensure that you are remaining on course.
Being aware of your surroundings will often pay off, so try to cultivate that habit.
