Basic Skills and Lost-Proofing

(Page 7 of 7)

May/June 1985
By Tom Brown Jr. 
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USE A SUN COMPASS!

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As everyone knows, the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west. It follows, then, that shadows invariably move in the opposite direction—a fact that you can use to plot true north any time the sun shines.

Find a stick about a yard long and push it into the center of a fairly level and brushfree spot of ground. The limb doesn't have to be vertical; you can lean it, if necessary, in any direction that gives you the most convenient shadow.

Once the stick is securely positioned, mark the tip of its shadow with a stone or twig. Then wait 15 or 20 minutes (or until the shadow's point has moved a few inches) and put a second pebble or bit of wood on the ground to denote the new location. Finally, draw a straight line in the dirt from the first marker through, and about a foot past, the second.

Now, if you stand with the toe of your left foot at the first location point and the toe of your right foot at the end of the line you drew, you'll be facing true north. The line, in other words, runs directly east and west, no matter where on the earth's surface you draw it!

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