You can work out direction without a compass

On summer time the sun is not due south until about one o'clock. An hour's error in the time shifts your direction estimate by about 15 degrees.

The clock decides how you use the sun

Direction can be worked out from many natural signs. The easiest of them is the position of the sun, and it is also reliable. The condition is a clock. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and across the day it moves about 15 degrees an hour. Morning and evening give you the direction straight from where it rises and sets; at other times you work it out.

On standard time the sun is due south at 12:00 and due north at midnight. Summer time shifts both by about an hour. The difference is worth remembering, because it applies to every time of day.

The rest is arithmetic. At 15:00 on summer time, two hours have passed since south, so the sun is about 30 degrees west of it. In the morning you count the other way. At 09:00 on summer time it is four hours to south, so the sun is about 60 degrees east of it. Check the time before making the estimate, because the whole method rests on it.

Cloud does not stop the estimate

You do not need to see the sun directly. Stand a thin twig or the tip of a knife upright on your thumbnail. A faint shadow appears on the nail, and the sun is on the opposite side from the shadow. The method only requires that the shadow is visible. Once the sun's direction is found, the estimate continues on the clock exactly as in clear weather.

The moon tells you where the sun is

A full moon is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun. So a full moon is due north at 12:00 and due south at midnight, the reverse of the sun at the same hours.

On other nights the moon still helps, because its lit side points towards the sun. At half moon the sun is about 90 degrees in the direction of the lit side, and at a thin crescent about 45 degrees. The bright edge of the moon is a pointer: it shows the sun's direction even when the sun itself is below the horizon.

On a clear night, north is in the stars

A clear night is the straightforward case, because it needs neither a clock nor arithmetic. Recognising a few clear constellations is enough. The Plough and Cassiopeia lead to Polaris, and Polaris is always due north. Learn the shapes in advance, because recognising them is the whole method.

An estimate gives direction, not position

Direction taken from natural signs is enough to hold a rough course. It is enough to keep the direction you have travelled under control. It is not enough for accurate position-fixing, and it should not be used for that. It is also worth checking the estimate whenever there is a chance to.

Navigation skill only comes from practising in the terrain. So make your first estimates in familiar ground where you already know the directions. Then the error shows immediately, rather than somewhere it matters.

Sources

• Selviytymisen käsikirja (Survival Handbook, 2024), pp. 83, 84 and 85. A public guide of the Finnish Defence Forces.