Lets say you're lost. Really lost. Your smartphone is dead or broken and civilization is nowhere in sight. Vultures are circling. Out of the corner of your eye, you think you saw a tumbleweed.
If the sun is shining, you can use your watch as a compass. Here's how:
If you're in the Northern Hemisphere:
- Hold the watch level and point the hour hand in the direction of the sun.
- Then find the direction that is halfway between the hour hand and 12 o'clock. That's south. The opposite, of course, is north.
If you're in the Southern Hemisphere:
- Hold the watch level and align the 12 o'clock marking with the direction of the sun.
- Then find the direction that is halfway between the 12 o'clock and the hour hand. That's north. The opposite, of course, is south.
- Your results will be more accurate the further away you are from the equator.
- You don't need a watch to do this, it works just as well with a drawn watch face on a piece of paper.