How To Find Directions Without A Compass

Have you ever wondered how you would find your directions if you were lost and had no compass with you? It is not as hard as you may think.

Some ways are easier and quicker than others though. In 1921, Hungarian mathematician George Polya proved that anyone who is lost can find there way home simply by walking around randomly. They could even decide which way to turn next by the toss of a coin – it wouldn’t matter how it turns out because eventually they would be able to find their way home. Eventually being the important point – it is possible that just by walking randomly, you would die before you made it home.

_{George Polya}

All hope isn’t lost though and by using one of the four methods below, you won’t be lost either. Here we will take at some of the ways you could find your directions if you ever found yourself lost without the use of a compass.

Watch and sun.

If you have a non-digital watch, you have a ready-made compass already. To use the watch to find which direction is due south, set the time on the watch to GMT then point the hour-hand towards the sun. Imagine a line being drawn between that hour-hand and the 12 marked on the dial – that line points exactly to due south.

Shadow-stick.

Not everyone has a watch that can be used in the above method but all hope is not lost; the shadow-stick method is just as effective. Find a long stick and put it into the ground. Mark the tip of the shadow that is cast from the stick. Wait a short while until the shadow has moved a few centimetres and then mark the new tip of the shadow. Draw a line between the two marks and you will have created a line that runs east-west.

Polaris: north at night.

The above two methods go on the assumption that the sun is out, but what could you do if it is night-time? Well, it is possible to find North simply by locating the Pole Star (Polaris). First, look for the constellation known as the Great Bear (also known as the Big Dipper or The Plough) – it makes a shape similar to that of a saucepan. Locate the two stars that form the side of the ‘saucepan’ that is farthest from the ‘handle’. Extending the line they make upwards until you come to the first bright star and you will have found Polaris.

Moss points south.

Nature has its own way of pointing you in the right direction if you know what to look for, although it is less reliable than any of the above methods. Both plants and moss tend to grow on the south side of trees simply because they are more exposed to the sunlight. Also, young trees tend to lean towards the opposite way from the direction of the prevailing wind. In the UK, the prevailing wind is mainly a south-westerly wind, thus, young trees would lean slightly towards the north-east.

References

• https://www.instructables.com/3-Ways-to-Find-North-Without-a-Compass/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P%C3%B3lya
• http://bsa344.com/Determine%20Direction%20without%20a%20Compass.pdf

Posted with STEMGeeks