NAVIGATION

WRISTWATCH COMPASS

If you know the time, you can determine direction. Using an analog watch, point the hour hand at the sun. Then, bisect the distance between the hour hand and 12 o’clock. That line, pointing away from the center of the watch, is south. If your watch is digital, just draw a clock with hands on the ground so that the hour hand is pointing toward the sun and do the same thing only on the ground instead of on your wrist.

What if you can’t see the sun? Even on cloudy days the sun will still cast a shadow from a stick placed in the ground. Align your hour hand perfectly with that shadow and it will be pointing toward the sun. Continue as just described. Once you know south, the other three directions fall into place.

FINGER CLOCK

This hack isn’t so much about finding direction as it is knowing when to stop hiking and start making base camp for the night. Many survivors underestimate how long it can take to set up a proper base camp, and then find themselves rushing around in low-light conditions. A reliable way of estimating the amount of time left until sunset is by using your fingers. Hold your hand up sideways with the bottom of the sun resting on top of your index finger. Now, count the number of fingers going down until they connect with land. Each finger represents approximately fifteen minutes of sunlight available.

AIR GOGGLES

I’ve placed this hack under the navigation heading because it’s related to navigating underwater. Seeing underwater is blurry at best without swimming goggles. Air goggles are simple to make. This is done by creating a tight seal across your forehead and to the outside of each eye along your temples with your hands by pressing them tightly against these areas. When you slowly lower your face into the water, a pocket of air will collect around your eyes and up against the wall that your hands create. If there is a small air leak in your hands, these air pockets can be replenished (or increased in size) by simply exhaling underwater and adding bubbles to the goggles. Your eyes are now behind a pocket of air and can see in water just as if you were wearing goggles. This is a perfect technique for getting a clear view of the bottom of any shallow pool or body of water.

SHADOWS LEAD THE WAY

You can improvise a fairly accurate compass using just a stick. Even with cloud cover, the sun will cast a shadow. Stab a straight 36" stick into the ground. Mark the end of its shadow with a rock. Wait a couple hours as the sun moves across the sky. Then mark the end of the shadow again with a second rock. Now, draw a line from the first rock to the second rock. This line is the east/west line; the second rock points east. As the sun moves from east to west it casts a shadow from west to east. From this you can then determine north and south.

SIGNALING AND RESCUE HACKS

BULLET CASING WHISTLE

Using just an empty bullet casing, a file (or sharp corner of concrete), and a branch, you can make one of the best hack rescue whistles in the world. File a groove ¹⁄₂" from the opening of the bullet casing as shown in the illustration. Be sure the flat 90-degree portion is toward the open end. Next, carve off the top fifth of a branch that is the same diameter as the inside diameter of the bullet casing. Cut this piece so that it is the exact length from the opening to the 90-degree, flat-filed edge and insert it into the end of the casing as shown. This bullet will now produce a piercing whistle to signal for recue.

BUSTED CELL PHONE TO THE RESCUE

Let’s face it: A cell phone is about the best survival tool you can have—if it’s working! Everyone knows that technology fails you when you need it most, and cell phones are no exception. Whether waterlogged or broken during a fall, a busted cell phone could still help you signal for rescue. Behind every cell phone screen are several layers of a highly reflective mirror-finish material that can be used to flash the sun’s rays in the direction of a rescue party. This works best if you adhere them side by side to bark or a flat rock, using sticky pine sap (wet mud will work temporarily). Increasing the surface area and number of reflective surfaces helps ensure a successful signaling attempt. The best method of accessing these reflective pieces is to crush the phone with a rock from the side, which will split most phones in half with little effort.

GLOW STICK BUZZ SAW

When most people think of a glow stick nowadays what comes to mind are roller rinks, sporting events, or rave dance parties. Although I’m not a big fan of glow sticks for survival lighting, there is a hack way to use one that makes an excellent (and really simple) rescue signal. Tie a 3' length of rope to one end of the glow stick and spin it as fast as you can in a circle facing the direction of your rescue party. At night, this will create a glowing orb, 6' in diameter, that forms an effective visual rescue signal—a big out-of-place moving object. A rescue signal like this one can be seen for miles by a ship or plane. To learn more about this hack, visit www.willowhavenoutdoor.com/general-survival/the-buzz-saw-nighttime-survival-signaling-technique.

REARVIEW RESCUE

I’ll never forget the story of a family lost and stuck in their car in the middle of winter on a snowy logging road. On several occasions, rescue planes flew overhead but the snow-covered car couldn’t be seen on the thin road in the dense forest. Survival signal mirrors are a staple recue tool in almost every single survival kit. The reflection of the sun’s rays from a signal mirror can be seen for miles by a plane or boat. Even the reflection from a bright moon has been known to save lives. Any mirror or reflective surface will work just fine. A simple hack, if stranded in your vehicle, is to yank the rearview mirror off the window (it’s just glued on) and use it to reflect the sun. Vanity mirrors on the visors also work very well.

HANSEL AND GRETEL SURVIVAL

If you’re on the move, marking your path of travel has two advantages. First, it allows you to retrace your steps if necessary. Second, it allows a rescue crew to follow your route. A good trail marker should incorporate three elements:

It should appear to be manmade. Try not to make a marker that could happen at random in nature.

It should have movement if possible. Strips of material hanging from branches that blow in the wind are a prime example.

It should indicate your direction of travel.

Two trail marker hacks include a tube of lipstick and an emergency survival blanket. You can shave away the bark of trees to the white cambium layer and draw a lipstick arrow as a marker. An emergency survival blanket can be stripped into hundreds of 1" × 4" strips and hung from branches as glittering signs of travel.

Chapter 8

Everyday Carry (EDC) Kits on a Budget