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Wilderness & Navigation
Navigate Without a Compass
If you must move, hold a straight line and use the sky and land to keep direction.
What to do
- 1Sun rises roughly east, sets roughly west; at midday it's due south (N hemisphere) / due north (S hemisphere).
- 2Use an analog watch or the shadow-stick method to find a rough north-south line.
- 3At night (N hemisphere) find Polaris using the Big Dipper's pointer stars — it marks north.
- 4Follow water downhill — drainages lead to streams, then rivers, then people.
- 5Pick a distant landmark, walk to it, then pick the next to avoid walking in circles.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trusting your sense of direction in fog/forest
- Moving at night over rough ground
- Leaving a known trail without reason
Good to know
- Shadow-stick: mark a stick's shadow tip, wait 15 min, mark again — the line between marks runs roughly west-east.
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