How to Use Your Watch as a Compass: 3 EASY Steps to Find North By 555 Gear

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Күн бұрын

How-to use a Watch as a Compass in 3 EASY Steps. More below ↡
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Full Description (timestamps below): Find South, Find North! In this video I show an the easy traditional way to determine true North/South using any wristwatch with an analog face. This how to could be handy in a survival situation and certainly is a cool party trick that isn't hard to learn. I also discuss how you can use a watch bezel (diving or compass) to mark your direction and things to be mindful of: such as time of day, daylight savings time, and what hemisphere you're in. Watches shown: Rolex Air King, Seiko Turtle, Seiko Alpinist
How-To Steps with Timestamps (* = Key Step)
Pre-Step) What kind of watch can you use? 0:38
*1) Determine location of SUN 2:30
1.5) Shadow Trick if needed 2:47
*2) Point HOUR hand towards Sun (how to hold watch) 3:00
*3) BISECT midpoint of arc between hour hand and 12 o'clock indices. If done correctly, congrats, you have determined true SOUTH. 3:35
You are DONE, but keep watching for additional helpful steps:
4) Things to be mindful of: daylight savings and hemisphere 4:57
5) If you are in the Southern hemisphere 5:23
6) IMPORTANT: Time of day correction: Bisect clockwise before noon, counterclockwise after noon 5:48
7) Tips for using a compass bezel 6:35
8) Fact check 7:11
Thumbs up for detailed description and timestamps :)

Пікірлер: 223

@voiceofexperience 5 жыл бұрын

What I learned today: The Seiko Alpinist is a beautiful little watch.

@LeeePowers 3 жыл бұрын

AND its a Prospex,so you can beat the snot out of it.

@raztaman12 3 жыл бұрын

since its too small for my wrist i already decided to get the larger version. the Field Compass 👌👌👌

@ODUBlue 3 жыл бұрын

💯💯💯

@mirodyer1599 Жыл бұрын

I thought he called it the Seiko Alchemist. So, you put the pseuds in this hole, the camp fuel in here, and the crystal comes out here. Ah, my hearing ain't what it used to be.

@dritzzdarkwood4727 Жыл бұрын

@@mirodyer1599 LOL!

@iamsemjaza 3 жыл бұрын

If you only have a digital watch, you can draw a circle on the ground, put a stick in the middle, use the shadow to pick the sun location (opposite of the shadow) and divide the circle in half there, then divide the circle in half at 90 degrees from that line, then divide those 4 sections into 3rds, giving you 12 hour points. You now have an oriented clock drawn on the ground. mark the hours starting with the original opposite-shadow point hour, then bisect between that hour and "twelve" on your dirt clock. Huzzah! South.

@silvaanosvs8783 Жыл бұрын

"If you don't know what hemisphere you're in, I'm very sorry." Fantastic.

@anthonyd6881 6 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure i'm going to forget all this by the time I'm actually lost... But great tutorial!

@JustCallMeHornet 9 ай бұрын

3:57 THANK YOU!! This is the information that every other video leaves out. They always tell you to bisect but they never clarify in which direction to bisect. This is important information!

@michaelwillan8464 Жыл бұрын

Daylight savings time: use 1o'clock position instead of 12 on the watch, (northern hemisphere). Before or after noon: simply shortest distance to the 12 or 1o'clock position.

@jcarlo331 4 ай бұрын

Last time I heard the term “ Bisecting “ was back at Ft Benning during a land navigation course , intro level like Boot camp lol ,, I watched many channels on fellas trying to explain how to get a N point , from a watch bezel ,,nice job sir , I now have that skill set ,, just need to apply it ,, Tomm I will ride my bike 100 miles outside Las Vegas , with nothing , just a camel back , couple spare tires , a hand pump , my multitool and my Breitling Endurance,, plus my light ,,wish me luck coach .

@mosmicke 6 жыл бұрын

This is such a good video in so many ways. It is very refreshing seeing someone actually showing the functions of particular watches in their respective enviorment, but also just being outside apposed to filming on top of a boring desk. Nice one sir. Keep 'em coming!

@555Gear 6 жыл бұрын

Greatly appreciated, thanks for tuning in! Cheers, Andrew

@williamwallace9826 3 жыл бұрын

Good video. I learned this many years ago, and then I forgot it many years ago. I remembered that it could be done but I couldn't remember how. Now I know (again). Thank you.

@carllange3950 5 жыл бұрын

If you have a 24 hour hand (like on a GMT watch) and it is showing your local time, it becomes easier. In the northern hemisphere, point the regular (12 hour) hour hand at the sun. The 24 hour hand will point north. In the Southern Hemisphere, point the 12 o’clock marker at the sun, the 24 hour hand will point south. The mathematics ends up being equivalent. The 24 hour dial is doing the bisection. If you are near the equator, just poke a stick in the ground and wait to see which way the sun is moving. It moves from East to West in the sky.

@swampThaang 4 жыл бұрын

So putting it all together if I understand... 1. Rotate your watch until the hour hand points in the exact opposite direction as your shadow. 2. Bisect the acute angle between 12 and the hour to find south. 3. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, use 12 instead of the hour hand to start step 1. 4. During DST (generally applies Mar through Oct for North America, Europe and South Australia) use hour hand -1 (not hour hand) as applicable.

@acratone8300 Жыл бұрын

Yes. But bisect clockwise in the morning. Bisect counter clockwise in the afternoon (which is this video's example).

@swampThaang Жыл бұрын

@@acratone8300 I think this is why it says the "acute" angle in step 2. This should be another way to say the same thing.

@elfergos 3 жыл бұрын

Thumbs up, purely for the dapper attire in the face of that rugged looking surrounding.

@YoutubeDepressesMe 8 ай бұрын

This helped me when I was lost at work one day. Cheers

@renhoek3851 3 жыл бұрын

I always sort of knew you could do this but understanding it now after all these years is really satisfying! thanks so much for a great video.

@05generic 6 жыл бұрын

Actually, if you have paper and pencil or a nice piece of dirt and a stick to work with, you can use a digital watch. Simply transfer the digital readout to a partial analog clock face that you draw. But just have an analog watch. They're much classier.

@louistorres 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for posting this!!

@PJ818 4 жыл бұрын

During daylight savings time bisect the angle between the hour hand and 1:00 pm. During daylight savings time we spring forward; so when the Sun was roughly due south at 12:00 noon during standard time, it’s now roughly due south at 1:00 pm during daylight savings time. I was an Assistant Scoutmaster and taught this trick, and I work at an astronomy museum. For any smart-ass comments about doing this trick at night, you don’t need a watch at night to find north. If you look for the Big Dipper you’ve got the handle and the bowl. If you take the two stars of the bowl farthest from the handle and draw a straight line, that line, from the “open end” of the bowl, points at the North Star, so you know where the north is. The Big Dipper is easy to see with city lights or even a Full Moon; and while the North Star isn’t a very bright star, it is still bright enough to be seen during a Full Moon. In the Southern Hemisphere at night there isn’t a “South Star”, but the constellation of the Southern Cross (Crux, the constellation on the flags of Australia and New Zealand) can be used to find south. The longest part of the long vertical beam of the cross points to the South Celestial Pole in the sky, and while there isn’t a South Star like a North Star, there’s a noticeably blank patch of sky with no significant stars at all. That’s south.

@williamlopez45 6 жыл бұрын

I just learned something new, thank you!

@vict9062 4 жыл бұрын

You are the only I understand the "HOW TO" clearly. Well explained. Thank you

@zedymike4910 6 жыл бұрын

You 're the only guy who differentiates the area to bisect at different times of the day. 5am south is different from 5pm south. Thank you.

@blazel462 2 жыл бұрын

If you get lost enough, you eventually get a feel for direction even without the watch. 😊 But I love the Alpinist.

@josephj7387 5 жыл бұрын

A thousand likes for the simple and visual example! Love from Bengaluru India

@shonkeymoulder6972 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the additional knowledge. Never knew about bisecting clockwise and counterclockwise before.

@555Gear 6 жыл бұрын

Important little tidbit, thanks for watching!

@user-wd7go9qo8g 3 ай бұрын

Dude, it's just that if you face towards the sun, your left arm will be North, right arm will be South and behind you is West. (And just reverse it if it's evening, if it's eve and you're using a watch even then you will have to reverse the direction of where you're placing the "middle" or north direction of the watch.) WHY IS THIS SO HYPEDDDD

@attilakovacs5803 Жыл бұрын

I like your outfit showing that even a person unprepared for (or inexperienced in) navigation outdoors can find his way around using his only tool, his watch.

@ecdsxxiecdsxxi5582 4 жыл бұрын

Fantastic vídeo. Thanks. Perfect.

@isthi000ify 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much man just come across your channel!! Such beautiful watches wow!

@1dd434 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, many thanks, learning here.

@jayjay9932 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the idea, I'll download the app.

@Alenagracediaz 3 жыл бұрын

Seiko 6309 Turtle! Nice 😎 Thanks for the video, it is really explained well!

@Colombo5218 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Superb!

@maynardchitty8896 3 жыл бұрын

This is great stuff!

@maddogtroy28 5 жыл бұрын

Just gotta say thanks for this video I never knew this was a possability. I'm gonna test it and practice some with a compass beside it. Thanks again really enjoying your videos.

@555Gear 5 жыл бұрын

Glad you are enjoying them, thanks for checking them out!

@Fearless-1 3 жыл бұрын

To use a digital watch as a compass, just visualize the hour hand on the watch face then point it at the sun.

@General4474 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info. Here's a way I figured out how to do this without a watch. You touch your middle finger and your thumb together to form a circle on your right hand. Pretend that the fingernail on your middle finger is the top of the watch 12 noon. now place that circle on your left wrist with the middle finger where normally the 12 noon would be a watch on your wrist. So no you'll see on your middle finger that there's nuckle 1 nuckle 2 and the it joins your hand which is anothe indent in the finger which represents #3. So pretend that's circle is your wrist watch. And nuckle 1 is 1pm, n 2 is 2pm 3 is 3pm. Now Look up at the sun. Approximate where it is in the sky. Kind of of approximate what time of day it is. So you woke up in the morning, then after some time you're thinking it's later in the day, maybe 3pm. So you do the same thing, you rotate that 3'rd intend on your sort of fake watch toward the sun. Then inbetween that and your middle finger fingernail is South. It only gives you an approximation. But it's better than nothing and you don't need a watch.

@Jacobsen5700 4 жыл бұрын

Never seen Charlie Day so calm and collected before..

@ODUBlue 3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀

@Martin_Hunac 5 жыл бұрын

Hi 555, i would be very happy if you would continue making watch videos :-) Hi from Czech Republic

@Fstmt09 Жыл бұрын

Thank you

@user-gz5jp1tc1j 10 ай бұрын

I've noticed that this and other similar videos are omitting something important. If it's after 6pm and the sun is still out, North and South along the bisect line become reversed. If it's 8:00pm and the sun is out (let's say setting), and you point the hour hand at the sun and bisect against "12" (like normal), what is South in the am is now North in the pm.

@sumitapal Жыл бұрын

Very useful

@Naturecraft645 3 жыл бұрын

Finally, someone teaches this correctly. Most people say you always bisect in one direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) which is not the case!

@sunZnotBull Жыл бұрын

You’re wrong. there’s no other way to bisect other than one direction…the bezel can only move unidirectionally !

@Naturecraft645 Жыл бұрын

@@sunZnotBull It’s not about bisecting, it’s about which side of the line is north and south. It’s not always the clockwise or counter clockwise where you determine the line you hit first is south or north. It depends on the time of the day

@MichaelAguila 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@thederp7690 6 жыл бұрын

My principle is a cool guy, and so are you, I’m glad some other people get a good principle too, there are too many bad ones out there

@ChrisKimDMD Жыл бұрын

I hope to remember clockwise/counterclockwise bisection when I'm lost in woods with wolf cry in the background. 😁

@madcat1007 3 жыл бұрын

You can use a digital watch as well. Either draw or imagine an analogue face on your watch. Easy peasy!!

@salty_terminal_civilian5374 3 жыл бұрын

This once saved my life in Afghanistan with my Seiko SKX..... Got me back to the FOB after an accident on a patrol... Not even joking. I relied on my SKX everyday in that shit hole, and I wear it everyday now, don't know if I can ever get rid of it. Also.... The Alpinist makes me want to go to Everest...

@petermason1573 5 жыл бұрын

Fascinating video! Can I ask where you got the canvas holder for the watches? (1:21)

@Claus-L.Mueller 6 жыл бұрын

I remember I learned this method when I was in the army. 😉 Another method is to look for a single standing tree. On its north side you are going to find more moss because moss likes to grow on wet places in the shade. And the north side never sees the sun...

@555Gear 6 жыл бұрын

Very excellent comment there. We check for moss when we're hunting here in Minnesota!!

@MSkallywagg 6 жыл бұрын

Claus-L. Müller then how come I've seen trees covered in moss?

@Claus-L.Mueller 6 жыл бұрын

M Skallywagg It’s because this method is not usable for any tree. It must be a single standing one. Not in a wood. And the method isn’t as correct as a compass.

@OutsideTheTargetDemographic 4 жыл бұрын

Or look for power lines...

@rever4217 4 жыл бұрын

I assume this only works in the northern hemisphere?

@Malc664 3 жыл бұрын

Got it at the end. You kept going off track or I did but get it, thanks. I'm in the land down under so maybe north means north on the watch. I'll check it out with my compass. Oh hang on my watch is on order , I don't have one. 😁 Yet.

@mendozaconsultation 4 жыл бұрын

@ the video time 5:45 or so, what your saying on how to measure the time contradicts what's written in step 6. Can you clarify.

@robertmerrick2389 Жыл бұрын

Good.

@vidsscreen 4 жыл бұрын

Hi I would like to know the name of the app.on your phone you used for compass accuracy . Where did you get it . For android !

@gerdamelle 3 жыл бұрын

Wonder if we could use the position of the moon to determine direction with the same principle at night? Thanks anyone for your advice!

@toml.8210 2 ай бұрын

You can use a digital watch, but you'll need pencil & paper to do the analog watch stuff- or you can improves, if you know how to use the analog watch method well. OR... learn the stick method. I always take a compass when I go hiking,and I have a compass zipper-pull on each jacket and pack or sling pack.

@mendozaconsultation 4 жыл бұрын

Does the position of the sun during the day, change anything also, how do you now set your compass if you have one incase the sun goes down or it rains ?

@jamesundau8790 4 жыл бұрын

Nice survival skill using the watch. I like your video. How to use if in equator?

@ting280 6 жыл бұрын

Wow, that was actually cool af

@555Gear 6 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it

@echochambers8418 5 жыл бұрын

I would think the sound of those cars would lead you to safety,but that’s just me.

@555Gear 5 жыл бұрын

What are cars!?!

@banjopete 4 жыл бұрын

Echo Chambers , funny mate!!’i cracked up!!

@edmund8954 4 жыл бұрын

@@555Gear maybe like an animal?? idk

@ralaniz630 3 жыл бұрын

lol!!

@Heywoodthepeckerwood 3 жыл бұрын

Highways are very dangerous....

@cafn8ed74 6 жыл бұрын

This seems really useful. Perhaps I'm a bit dense, but I'm still a little unclear on the AM/PM difference. You mentioned that it was 5:20 in your video. Was that AM or PM? Also, I once heard about a trick for finding the sun when it's very overcast. Might have been on another KZfaq channel. A thin object might not cast a shadow at all, but something wide and flat probably will. Hold the flat object (paper plate, knife blade, trapper keeper etc.) near a flat surface and turn it until the shadow disappears, and you know the sun is inline with the flat object.

@raymondbaring8470 Жыл бұрын

555 gear at currently 55.5k subscriber, cool!

@ChapeauRouge921 4 жыл бұрын

If I remember correctly, here in the southern hemisphere you take a match, place it on 12 and turn until the shadow forms a line from 12 to 6 (A lot more accurate than just pointing it to the sun) and then you bisect between the hour hand and the shadow line and you have true north.

@rager1969 Жыл бұрын

Ok, so I now know where South is and if that's the direction I want to walk, I guess I try to find a landmark in that direction and walk towards it. East and West would be a bit harder to eyeball, but I guess it's doable. How do you determine a landmark behind you (i.e., North)?

@Immortal__ 6 жыл бұрын

which camera & lens did you use to record this?

@kingofenglandthethir 2 жыл бұрын

Nice way to show off your Rolex.

@Fstmt09 Жыл бұрын

How do you use that in the deep woods or desert? Great you know south and north but what happens if you don't know where the town is or what direction you came from?

@mdrsmeltracy 4 жыл бұрын

Another proof that the earth is a globe, not flat! Thanks!

@michaelbarry2700 4 жыл бұрын

Im a pilot, its flat

@TheUsaid11 3 жыл бұрын

So you mean to say is the acute angle between hour hand and 12 o close mark is facing south and the obtuse angle bisector will face north ?? What happend at 12.30 at noon ?? Gow do we say which one is south or north ?

@franciscomartinezzea8531 Жыл бұрын

Solar time is from 6am solar to 6pm solar. These hours don't have sixty minutes. So we really have to know sun rise and sunset times so as to take our watch to solar time and then we bisect the angle between hour hand and twelve. I believe that if we are in the southern hemisphere we are to consider that the bisected angle is pointing north instead of south?

@christopherdixon5141 Жыл бұрын

For DST use 1 o clock instead of 12 o clock marker

@commercialbreak8290 Жыл бұрын

So if I dont have a watch but I do have a compass I can work out the time by doing an inverse bisection.

@MrHappyman177 2 жыл бұрын

What model is that seko watch with the green face

@bernardtan1 3 жыл бұрын

I'm in the Southern Hemisphere, so I use the 12 o'clock marker to point at the SUN then bisect COUNTER CLOCKWISE before noon then opposite after noontime.

@budchestnut9303 3 жыл бұрын

What do yu do if you are on or near the equator?

@matthewburden9403 2 жыл бұрын

I don't know what your selling but on a sunny day you can do the same planting a stick in the ground and plotting and bisecting the sun's shadow transit. One very important thing, you omit applying the equation of time varriation to the civil time before playing with your bisection. This is nothing new. While a boy scout some 50 years ago, I learned how to do this watch-compass thing from a German officer's handbook. Applying the equation of time varriation before you bisecting will take you to a more true compass bareing in either application. A Breguet 3477 is most suitable for surface and ocean navigation. If you really want to test out that Explorer, set to GMT andp take it on a voyage across the North Atlantic together with a brass sextant and the Air Almanac and sight reduction tables for the area - and leave your other junk home.

@edmund8954 4 жыл бұрын

does it only work with automatic watches?

@Sawboo Жыл бұрын

Could you just determine where your hour hand would be on a digital watch and go from there?

@mendozaconsultation 4 жыл бұрын

Acording to another video i saw, "If it's daylight savings time,just set your watch one hr back" is this correct. Surpose to be an old boy scout trick ?

@PJ818 4 жыл бұрын

More so “spring forward”; the bisecting line should be “drawn” between the hour hand and 1:00 instead of 12:00 during daylight savings.

@user-ik5mn8qv5z Жыл бұрын

Is it possible to use GMT hand to navigate? (Must be possible)

@diegoordonez5984 6 ай бұрын

If it's 12pm how do you calculate or bisect?

@maxb5947 Жыл бұрын

What model number is that seiko?

@agrimsingh11 Жыл бұрын

can i use it if my smartwatch has a analog watchface

@thierrygillard6896 3 ай бұрын

I presume this requires that the watch indicates the local time (no DST or unified time across China).

@ffedurch 11 ай бұрын

You do realize during the summer if you're somewhere that uses DST you just need to set your watch back one hour to get an accurate reading, right? If your watch has jump hour setting it's stupid easy. You don't have to worry about losing your minute hand setting.

@seanfaherty Жыл бұрын

This is the reason I didn't have a digital watch in the 90s.

@calsurflance5598 Жыл бұрын

You forgot to mention you need really good lume for this to work at night!

@incargeek Жыл бұрын

Moss growing on tree trunks is generally on the northern side…

@fuikayesoong7089 Ай бұрын

and if you are in the equatorial?

@starlord7548 9 ай бұрын

What happens when it's 12 o'clock or the sun is directly up above or at the equator?

@M.chinns 8 ай бұрын

Here is my normal watch a rolex and on that note will just use my human survival homeing beacon wait till nigjt time and walk north south east or west useing the north star as a point of reference

@kennethtalbott2233 Жыл бұрын

next time i'm hiking in the woods i'll be sure to pack my Rolex....just in case i get lost... nice vid though.

@bernardtan1 3 жыл бұрын

We still need a real compass during the night if we are traveling in darkness ? No sun during evening... is the moon the substitute ?

@nunyabusiness9056 2 жыл бұрын

HELP I'm lost in the rocky mountains in north america. I have a watch and data on my phone but I don't know what hemisphere I'm in. Send a cartographer please!

@coffeepot3123 2 жыл бұрын

Would't it be more accurate to use a stick to see the shadow,for mentioned accuracy?, (instead of eyeballing it/destroying your eyes by looking towards the sun?) It's always best to assume the worst that you (for some odd reason) don't carry sunglasses out in the wild.

@zash008 3 жыл бұрын

Lets see you perform that task with a Meistersinger Salthora Meta X SAMX908 analog watch.😎🕛🧭⌚🕚😁

@zash008 3 жыл бұрын

Or you can just keep walking while keeping the sun off the front tip of your right shoulder at all times which essentially has you travelling generally south while Joe which is miles behind you, still fooling with his watches.

@DelusionalJ 6 жыл бұрын

Sorry, I'm not very certain but if you're in the Southern hemisphere, wouldn't the bisection point North? Thank you in advance

@Eragon954 6 жыл бұрын

Yes it will, I guess he forgot to mention it.

@555Gear 6 жыл бұрын

Yeah sorry I wasn't clear about that

@QBRX 3 жыл бұрын

If you point the hour hand towards the sun and it's at 5 pm, then just halve the distance and that will point south. No bezel needed. If it's 10 am, point the hour hand towards the sun, and the 12 o'clock position will point south. This only works if you can see the sun.

@buyaport Жыл бұрын

To determine true north, you only need a bit of imagination and a method to determine the real time at where you are. Imagine a clock face with numbers from 1 to 24 (easier if you double the numbers on a real watch). Then you have to determine the real time, i.e. deduct 1 hour for daylight saving time and adjust the "official" time for the sun time at your place. the official time can be way off (e.g. in Western Spain as much as 1 1/2 hours, so when you are in the summer in Santiago de Compostela and your timepiece shows 13:00 hrs, the real sun time is 10:30 hrs.). Find that time on your imaginary or real watch face and point it to the sun. 24 points then to north/12 to south because at midnight the sun is in the north (under horizon), and at noon it is in the south. Easy as that!

@nahidayesmin9609 Жыл бұрын

Dinka do you know watch the hour hand on a watch you know what is the minute Hen minute 10 same thing us to 12 while we’re in right or you know that

@motorhead1825 Жыл бұрын

Since you are estimating direction without a compass, you don't even need a watch. Northern hemisphere, sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Just by knowing NSWE on a compass, you can easily know which way is which, even without a watch, so what's the point?