How to Turn You Watch into a Compass Should You Ever Get Lost

Let's say just for the sake of argument that you are out in the woods for some ungodly reason and you get lost. Compounding the terror you immediately feel is the fact that this is the one time you forgot your compass. Normally, you are good about remembering that little life saver, but not this time. What do you do? What DO you do? Well, the first thing is to check if you are wearing your wristwatch. Well, I suppose the first thing you could do is cry out for help, but if that doesn't work, then check your to see if your watch is still attached to your wrist. And, hopefully, it will be a standard timepiece and not one of those digital things. Because, just in case you weren't aware, you can use a standard watch as a compass, with a little adjustment. Oh, and you also have to have some sunlight.

First off, position your watch so that it is face up. It is best if you are holding the watch in your palm or even better if there is a flat, smooth surface nearby. Needless to say, that won't always be the case in situations where you are lost, so your palm should do. Next, look around for something very thin that you can easily press up against the edge of the watch so that it casts a shadow over the face. Now you want to arrange a perfect shadow from whatever you have pressed up against the edge running along the hour hand. You can accomplish this by either turning yourself or, if you've got the watch positioned on a flat surface, by turning the watch. Once you've got the shadow in perfect position, south will be at exatly the midway point between the hour hand and the 12 on the watch. In other words, let's say you get lost in the morning, maybe after getting up early to shake the dew off the lily and somehow you lost direction. If the watch is accurate and you figure out that you are lost right around 8:00 AM, then you know you are heading south if you follow in the direction represented by a line through the 10 on your watch. Obviously, heading in the direction of a line through 4 will lead you northward.