View Full Version : Finding North
How many ways are there to establish North without using a store-bought compass during
Daylight
Daylight, but low visibility (fog or clouds)
Darkness (clear overhead)
Darkness (Cloudy)?
:munchin
How many ways are there to establish North without using a store-bought compass during
Daylight
Daylight, but low visibility (fog or clouds)
Darkness (clear overhead)
Darkness (Cloudy)?
:munchin
Is this a test or are you in the need to know? The answer would depend on somebody's age.
Now one of the younger crowd would "Just look at the GPS, night or day."
One of the older crowd would say "Just look the sauropods, night or day, they
go south during the night and north during the day.":D
But there is the shadow stick for daytime, stars for nightime (north star and southern cross), terrain association with your map. Guys?
Pete
Getting ready to go hunt a few sauropods.
Is this a test or are you in the need to know? The answer would depend on somebody's age.
...
One of the older crowd would say "Just look the sauropods, night or day, they
go south during the night and north during the day.":D
LOL, so long as I remain in front of my computer, my location will be fairly certain. Just looking to learn a new trick from an old dog...:D
Weazle23
03-19-2006, 16:32
Iv'e never heard of finding the Southern Cross with the Big Dipper, but I know the two end stars on the cup part of the Big Dipper points right to the North Star.
Iv'e been told moss generally grows on the north side of trees in the Northern Hemishphere, but I'm not sure how foolproof that one is.
Bill Harsey
03-19-2006, 19:55
Pete,
These things have thinned out a bit since I've been around.
Any of you old dogs know what bore rifle is best for sauropods?
Ambush Master
03-19-2006, 20:04
Pete,
These things have thinned out a bit since I've been around.
Any of you old dogs know what bore rifle is best for sauropods?
I'd say at LEAST a 40mm!!!!:munchin
I'd say at LEAST a 40mmwith muzzle brake..
let's see...how about moss and lichen growing on the north sides of trees (in the Northern Hemisphere)...Pete covered the more straight-forward methods...
the watch method works, as well...
http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=1276
http://www.leisureideas.com/weekend/primitive%20navigation.htm
I've used flying geese while hunting but I've noticed it only gives you a very general idea of North/South. Even if you can't see them you can tell which direction their going by listening. Good enough for making sure I didn't get turned around somehow and that was all I was interested in at the time.
Of coarse there are other ways like the needle, silk, and the leaf but those are all in the standard survival books. I wonder if the newer silk blend liner socks would work. I'll have to try that one out.
Team Sergeant
03-20-2006, 10:56
How many ways are there to establish North without using a store-bought compass during
Daylight
Daylight, but low visibility (fog or clouds)
Darkness (clear overhead)
Darkness (Cloudy)?
:munchin
I've been very busy...... I just read this thread..... now you guys can read this one.....
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403&highlight=finding+north
TS
Thanks for bumping my necropost, guys!
Okay, looks like we have simple solutions for all but the "nightime, low visibility" scenario. Any options besides the moss trick or magnetizing a needle?
:munchin
Okay, looks like we have simple solutions for all but the "nightime, low visibility" scenario. Any options besides the moss trick or magnetizing a needle?there is not a technique for every possible scenario...at least NIMNHO...however, map reconnaissance and experience can help keep you oriented on the ground...if you have time in the AOR, you know which way the drainages flow...in some areas, particularly in steep terrain, the slopes facing the sun have more vegetation than the shaded sides...in the tropics, this doesn't work very well, but in more temperate climates, it can be applied...
the bottom line is this...if, on the night of infil, your compass is tango uniform, your hand held GPS battery is dead, the fog is down to your ankles and there are no trees, you are in a world of hurt...
Contrary to popular myth, moss does NOT grow only on the north side of trees. Moss only grows where it will remain moist. Sunlight will dry the bark, causing moss to grow on the northside of a tree, only if it is a single tree, not in a group. In a forest, moss grows on all sides of a tree because the sun cannot penetrate to all of the trees due to foliage.
Night time and low visibility: The sun and stick method will work at night also. The moon follows close to the same path as the sun.
Rivers generally flow toward the equator.
Team Sergeant
04-05-2006, 10:39
Night time and low visibility: The sun and stick method will work at night also. The moon follows close to the same path as the sun.
Rivers generally flow toward the equator.
I'll try the moon trick.... as soon as the clouds clear here.
(low visibility does not lend itself to making shadows.......)
The moss trick only works in hollywood movies.
If you're lost and find a river, you'd better know where you are at that point!:rolleyes: (If not follow the river down-stream, almost rivers lead to civilization.)
Bill Harsey
04-05-2006, 14:47
About all our rivers in Oregon run the wrong way, many to the left.
I'll try the moon trick.... as soon as the clouds clear here.
(low visibility does not lend itself to making shadows.......) ]Okay, I'll give you that one.
The moss trick only works in hollywood movies. ] I live in Nebraska. We don't have that many trees, so it kind of works here. I wouldn't trust it though.
If you're lost and find a river, you'd better know where you are at that point!:rolleyes: (If not follow the river down-stream, almost rivers lead to civilization.) Unless you're trying to avoid civilization.
Team Sergeant
04-05-2006, 15:00
I live in Nebraska. We don't have that many trees, so it kind of works here. I wouldn't trust it though.
It would not work in many places I've been, big swamps, jungles, or temperate rain forests. I'd never use it as a direction guide.
TS
About all our rivers in Oregon run the wrong way, many to the left.the Rhine doesn't conform either...
About all our rivers in Oregon run the wrong way, many to the left.
Yeah, but if you were on the other side they would be running to the right:D
Did ya hear about the two blonds. They were on both sides of a river. One blond shouted over to the other "How do I get to the other side?". The other one shouted back "You already are.":D
OK I'll fade away now.
Pete
bost1751
04-05-2006, 15:58
Well, if all else fails, use the excuse a new 2LTused in IOBC many years ago. When told he could find his butt with both hands if it was a map by the land nav cadre, the 2d LT replied " The terrain shifted and my compass got magnetized". he was serious too.
Soft Target
04-06-2006, 08:05
As a former shavetail and SFOC graduate although a staff puke, I eventually learned a foolproof way to determine where I was under any conditions.
Put your right arm out to your side (pointing away for you Rangers) and put your left are directly out in front of you (also pointing away for you Marines), where they meet is exactly where you are.
Forgive Me Colonel.
You cannot spell 'lost' without the "LT"