How to Tell Direction w/ Stick Shadows | Survival Skills

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A way to tell direction with using the sun and a stick is to place a stick in the ground. The sun is going to cast a shadow. When the shadow is cast you're going to put a mark right here. There we go. We have a nice shadow line right here. And we're going to put a mark at the tip of that shadow. The easiest way for me to tell is to touch the top of the stick with my finger, and that's where the mark is going to be put. So I put a mark here, it's a little stick, and I put another mark here. The big stick is casting a shadow.

We're going to give it about 10 or 15 minutes, and the shadow is going to move. As the shadow moves we're going to put a second mark in and that's going to give us our east west direction line. So we need a minute or two right now, or probably 10, 12, 15 minutes, for the shadow to move as the sun goes across the sky.

Originally we placed a stick here to cast a shadow. The first shadow stopped at this post. As the sun travels across the sky the shadow changes. We're about 20 minutes later and we have a shadow that's right here. If we draw a line to go between this stick and this point we have an east west oriented line.

The east west line will give us north and south. If we're standing on the east west line and we have east in our right hand we're looking north. South is behind us.

We also did a watch sun compass. And the watch sun compass gave us south in this direction and north in this direction. So our north south line, if we put it right next to our east west line, make a perfect cross giving us north, south, east, and west. So we have a compass right here on the ground from the sun.

One can be done without the other, but when you do them together it's kind of nice because you have that confirmation that one gives to the other.

[gerritloedolff]

His directions are actually correct but it sounds confusing since he didn't turn around when he refered to "East in the right hand...facing north.." etc. He is facing south since he is in the Northern Hemisphere. For him, the shadow is moving from right to left where the right is west and the left is east. In the Southern Hemisphere, the shadow will move from left to right where the right is east and the left is west.

[JoeBob]

1:51 he has east and west backwards (in case anyone actually tries this out)

[windfal]

Should have done it on a surface where you can see the shadows for better understanding of those who watch!!

[jlleytunes]

The accuracy of this method varies tremendously. It's most accurate near the equinoxes, or around solar noon for any day of the year. To not include these particulars is a serious omission for a site purporting to communicate survival skills and general savvy in the outdoors.

[ofigetdaitedve]

This method gives deviations of up to 20 degrees (in the case of mid-latitude) from the true East-West direction. The best season for use it - near the equinox days.

[HenryWalsh]

I'm from Australia and do army cadets at my school, thanks for this I shall keep this easy tutorial in my mind if worst comes to worst :) I'm 15 too

[RedCobra]

Easier way if you just look at the sun and determine if it's setting or rising. *Hint* the Sun sets in the west and the Rises at east.

[nickdicresce]

Love the video, but check your directions.... Never Eat Soggy Waffles ;)

[tucox]

There are so many variables here. It is not true everywhere and every day of the year. The shadow will follow a true East-West path on or near the Equinox (when Sun is on the celestial equator). Or, for other times of the year, when the Sun transits your meridian. The higher your latitude and early or later in the day, the greater the error. If you plot the path of the stick's shadow throughout the day, it will produce a hyperbolic curve (except around March and September)., The higher your latitude and the closer you are to the summer/winter solstice, the grater the curvature. Look at the day of the year lines on a Sundial made for latitudes around 45 degrees, for example.

[frank]

So if its past noon, east and west is reversed?

[CandidlySubtle]

He explains it too fast, and it's unclear. I can understand where west and east is, because the sun moves west. But where did North and South come in? I thought they should be reversed.

[JustinMentionedIt]

You just did all that to tell which way east and west is❓ the sun comes up in one and sets in the other don’t need sticks

[ruffleschips]

I'll just take a compass with me, or use the compass on my cell phone or look for a north bound Canadian goose.

[sammy]

Then use an actual compass to see how close your results were?

[Micscience]

This should been explained more fundementally imo. Plus the camera view wasn't that good.

[davidhuynh]

I thought you had to do the stick method on a flat ground, but that was a slanted hill? HMMM

[hawksnestii-thewanderingqu]

This is a scam. It would only work at the equator. The closer to the poles you live although the shadow from the sun moves west to east, it also lengthens and shortens. In the (northern hemisphere) produces an angle NW to SE in the am, and SE to NW in the pm.

If you do this at exactly during the apex of the suns arc, few minutes before to few minutes after, you'd be close.
Buy a compass or go back to school.

[crazycacti]

Or u could see were the sun sets and rises

[NinjaBabyification]

Why on earth are you fighting with your self? Do you have a disorder the makes you this way?

[LeftLight]

Oh resorting to name calling now? Your mature.