How to find north, south, west and east without a compass: practical tips

Now that we all have GPS and Google Maps on our phones, which are always with us and ready to serve us at any time, we have already forgotten many useful techniques that we were taught in school during geography lessons and which helped us so well to navigate in space in any conditions, without maps, without compasses, and, of course, without these very smartphones.

How do you calculate the cardinal points without a compass, smartphone, or map?

We, those who managed to enjoy a non-synthetic life without the influence of smartphones, all kinds of electronic assistants and all kinds of electronic devices, are lucky, but the new generation born in the early 2000s and later, unfortunately, did not face the rules of the game that applied before the Apple electronic revolution. But even though they were more complex, they could perfectly develop logic and ingenuity in a person, teach the mind the mind and help in difficult times. Because they were really useful…

But sometimes you can’t survive without knowledge and your favorite smartphone! For example, you’re walking in the woods, it’s winter. At some point, you lose sight of the well-trodden path and realize that you are lost. It doesn’t matter, you think, and taking your phone out of your pocket, you try to access the “maps” application. And suddenly… you realize that your phone doesn’t work. I mean “at all”! The battery is dead. Is this what you’re going to do to get your bearings, to find out where north, south, west, and east are?

Okay, let’s not even take such an extreme example, let’s say you’re just wondering where the cardinal points are? You can’t pick up a smartphone. No maps or compasses either. What will you do? We will show you how to act in such a situation.

Here are a few strategies that will point you in the right direction, and you will find it solely through your knowledge, not by using auxiliary devices.

Do smartphone “compasses” show the right direction at all?

In fact, I don’t know a single person who would go mushroom picking with a smartphone with a compass on it. Normal people always take a real device with them, and those who know better take a map of the area, matches, a knife, and a fully charged phone (to call and call rescuers in case of problems, if the network coverage allows).

Now, while the GPS maps do show the location with an accuracy of several meters, the electronic compasses are in trouble. Here’s an example of how compasses work on two Apple devices: iPhone 7 and iPhone 8:

And who to believe? Both are set to “True North,” and yes, the measurements were taken in a room where crosstalk from electronic devices, plus reinforcement and a layer of concrete, have a significant impact, but the difference is still obvious. The most interesting thing is that the discrepancy with magnetic north on a real compass ranges from 60 to 120 degrees for both devices.

In general, we honestly would not rely on the phone’s readings in the field. Moreover, this “compass” dies very quickly. It’s a toy, nothing more.

Follow the sun to calculate the cardinal points

This is a fairly simple, even basic part of orienteering knowledge. There is hardly a person in the world who doesn’t know such basic truths as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. And at 12 noon, the sun crosses the geographic meridian.

If you’re trying to figure out whether you’re looking east or west, pay attention to where the sun is moving – this is your best bet, during the daytime, of course. And also if there are no clouds in the sky.

At the same time, knowing that the sun rises in the east, you can face it and find out that north will be on your left, south on your right, and west behind you, respectively.

However, there are also a number of nuances to keep in mind.

For example, in the Northern Hemisphere (where our country is located), the sun rises in the east and disappears behind the horizon in the west only two days a year: March 21 and September 23. These are the days of the so-called vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

The rest of the time, the position of the star shifts slightly to the north (spring and summer), to the south as winter approaches, to the northeast and northwest, on June 21, the day of the summer solstice, and to the southeast and southwest in winter, on the day of the so-called winter solstice.

In general, it is not exactly located on the sky, but a general understanding of the direction of movement will help to find it, especially if you know the indirect signs of north and south. For example, moss on trees standing alone will most likely grow on the trunks on the north side… the same will happen on the north walls of stones.

Here we emphasize an important nuance. Moss can also overgrow the trunk all the way around, or it may not be present at all. It can grow in dense thickets and on single trees, while on different adjacent trees it can be on different sides of the trunk.

It is important to find a certain pattern here. Only in this way can this natural sign become a good help in finding out a more accurate direction of movement.

How to determine the direction of the parts of the world at noon?

Okay, so you can at least calculate the location of parts of the world when the sun has just risen or is already setting over the horizon. But what about when it’s at its zenith? That is, overhead?

There’s a different calculation method for that, too. In short:

We need to find a clean piece of land that receives enough direct sunlight. Then we need to find a straight stick and stick it at a 90-degree angle into the ground.

The stick will cast a shadow. Put a mark where the edge of the shadow falls (mark this place with a pebble or peg). After about 15–30 minutes, the shadow will move, mark the edge of the shadow again.

Now that we have two points, we can connect them with a line. This line will give us a rough idea of the east-west direction. In this case, the first point you draw will point to the west, and the second point will point to the east.

Unfortunately, this option will only work on a sunny day, but it will allow you to quickly navigate the terrain during a halt with greater accuracy than simply following the sun at sunrise or sunset.

Another logical piece of advice. Never look directly at the sun. Even when wearing sunglasses. You can get an eye injury.

Use a wristwatch to determine the cardinal points

Telling time by an analog watch (wristwatch, with hands) is becoming less and less relevant, but if you need a compass and you wear a watch with hands, consider yourself lucky. In fact, even if you’re wearing a fancy digital watch, all you need to do is visualize the hands on the dial, and if you have a smartwatch like the Samsung Galaxy Watch or Apple Watch, you don’t need to use your imagination either – just change the virtual dial to a hand.

Take off your watch and align the hour hand with the sun (point it toward the sun). Imagine a line that divides the space between the number “1” (hour) and the hour hand (still facing the sun). This line will point to the south. For example, if the clock shows 16:00, then the line halfway between 13:00 and 14:30 will point to 14:30.*.

The line that divides this angle indicates the approximate direction in which the Sun is at noon, i.e., the direction to the south.

Before noon, we divide the sector of the dial that the hour hand must pass before the “hour”, after noon, the sector that it passed after the “hour”:

Short and to the point on the topic:

Find a church

Another way to get to the bottom of the truth is to look at the horizon – west, east… Not always exactly correct, but as an auxiliary reference point it can complete the picture.

So, if you are in a village or in an abandoned village, you may find a temple, or rather a church, there. You should know that in Orthodox churches, the altar will most often face east. The bell tower will face west.

Christian churches are usually aligned from west to east, with the altar at the eastern end of the church facing the sunrise. Gravestones in cemeteries are also usually aligned from west to east.

Look at the stars

The night version. It’s night outside. What to look for in the sky? The constellation of the Little Dipper:

You need to find the North Star, which is located in one of the constellations familiar to every student: The Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. The North Star is located in the constellation of the Little Dipper (the constellation “hangs” above the bucket of the Big Dipper and looks like a bucket turned over from left to right). The uppermost star (the brightest of all) is the North Star. It points to the north.

And then there is the equipment on the right: behind it is the south, to the right is the west, and to the left is the east.

And finally, a few auxiliary signs:

• ant hills are most often located south of the nearest trees;
• stump cuts have a denser arrangement of annual rings on the north side than on the south;
• the bark of trees on the north side is usually “coarser” (has a larger pattern) and darker than on the south side of the tree.