Finding Your Direction in the Wild

Finding Your Direction in the Wild

In the wilderness, you’re not always going to have cell phone reception. There may come a time when you get lost in the woods without a global positioning system (GPS) and need to find your way out. That’s why it’s important to be able to find your direction without technology.

Thankfully, there are several ways you can find your way without electronics. You can follow the video and make a compass from a leaf, needle and some sort of puddle of water. Or, when the sun is out, you can put a stick in the ground and mark the end of the shadow. After a few minutes have gone by, the shadow will have moved. Mark the end of where the shadow is now and draw a line connecting the two points; this line will point east and west.

Of course, the sun isn’t always out, now is it? What should you do when it’s nighttime? Well, the answer to that question lies in the stars, literally. You can use the stars to navigate the way sailors did before we had fancy gadgets. Look for the North Star also known as Polaris.

To do this, find the Big Dipper and follow the edge of its cup about five or six times its length toward a star that is moderately brighter than the rest; this is the North Star. This method is for the Northern Hemisphere; when in the Southern Hemisphere, look for the Southern Cross constellation to find south. The downfall to these methods is that they only work at night and during clear skies.

Now you know a few methods of navigation humans have used for hundreds of years. Why not learn something else that has been used in the past by ancient civilizations? Check out this ancient technique to preserve food that can still be used today.

Copyright 2021, TheSurvivalGuide.com