🧭 Finding your way without GPS
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If the battery runs out, a compass, a paper map and the sun still work.
Open the guide in the app (works offline)Step by step
- Compass: hold it flat, away from metal and magnets; the red needle points to magnetic north (which can differ from true north depending on where you are).
- Orient the map: turn it until its north lines up with the compass; that way the map matches the terrain.
- With the sun: it rises in the east and sets in the west. In the northern hemisphere, at solar noon it's to the south.
- With an analog watch (northern hemisphere): point the hour hand at the sun; south is halfway between that hand and 12 (1 o'clock in daylight saving time).
- At night: find the Big Dipper, extend the distance between its two end stars five times and you'll reach the North Star, which marks north.
Safety
- Moss "growing on the north side" isn't reliable: it depends on the damp and shade of each place.
Source: Classic navigation techniques; national geographic institutes (magnetic declination)