Excellent! When I was affiliated with the BSA we used to teach this to our scouts and they would make their own sets (with instruction), some got so good that they would use an analog watch with a rotating bezel for navigating. Not as exact as a good compass but accurate enough for general direction when you use land marks to avoid lateral drift. Will be looking forward to having one of those.
Dave, you really know how to make this look easy, and I'm really grateful that you keep this series available online. I couldn't remember everything from class and am really enjoying going back over the material. With groundhog day right around the corner, I'm thinking that now is a good time to make a project that includes shadows. Thanks again for all that you do.
I like items like this that force us to really pay attention to the world around us and how it works. This is a good item and can be very accurate if used with proper skill and understanding. Even without much understanding, this can provide a consistent direction in an emergency situation right out of the box. Just keep in mind that there will be sources of error that may be significant. This is a bit advanced, but I believe it is important to understand when using an item like this, if you orient the noon/North mark to True North it is giving you your local solar time. If you put the shadow on your local solar time, the noon/North mark will be pointing True North. The time from your watch/cell phone/gps is by time zone which may make you as far off as 7.5° depending upon where you are from your meridian (time zone center essentially). There would be an additional 15° error toward the West if your timepiece is showing Daylight Saving Time. This flips around if you're in the Southern Hemisphere BTW and your hours will be backwards if they don't have a Southern Hemisphere option. It is important to correct for these sources of error if you end up using a solar compass for navigation. The accuracy that an instrument like this can achieve is directly proportional to the care and understanding that you use when setting these up. Take the time to orient to True North using an accurate compass (compensating for declination), sightings to Polaris, known landmark on a map (if you know your own location), or another verifiable direction, then note the error with your timepiece. Using that error to compensate for your location/season will make it MUCH more accurate and useful. That error changes rather slowly and could be used for several days if need be.
That correct, a bit more complicated to explain but correct, as you said with this methodology you are least using the same measurement all the time and can eliminate lateral drift
You have put a lot of time and research into this no doubt Dave. It has been really neat to see this evolve and this will be an invaluable tool to help people understand this concept more thoroughly.
I enjoyed it. Nothing wrong with learning multiple ways for direction or bearing. You could take a tumble at anytime and destroy or lose equipment. All the best Dave. 👊.
Watch the sun rise and Sun set, and the big dipper, or ursa major. If you can't find the bear look for Polaris. But this is old,and does work. AKA the big dipper! The tail of the handle is close to north.
That’s purdy darn cool I’d like to play around with that,I’m assuming must be careful of the nail getting bent probably through ya way off much? Lookn forwarder to get one er more hope not to pricey
Why would I need something tat only works for a few hours out of a day, and doesn't work when there is no sun? What is with the constant adjusting of the sun compass? I have a real good compass.
If you're in the arctic circle close to the North pole, magnetic North becomes useless as a reference. It's just a back-up. You can also use an analogue watch as a solar compass by casting a shadow in line with you hour hand with a twig and bisecting the angle between 12 and the hour hand to find true North.
Term used with a Compass for North Side of the Needle in the area representing 360 degrees (declination dependent) within the bezel , usually looks like a red arrow outline (or doghouse)
Interesting how almost everything boils down to "what time is it?" It becomes "interesting" when you lock your receive or transmit frequency to a GPS receiver. Then you can convert the signal to that of one of the earth's more stable time bases and set up a clock that TRULY tells you what the time REALLY is. LOL
Yes and No remember you are not going to be using a compass if you need this so you may be off 15 degrees but you would always be off the same, a bit hard to explain when you are always used to the compass but if you aligned a map with this same tool you are always measuring with the same device- Hope that makes sense
Cool Kit and Flat Earth evidence. A compass cannot work on a sphere. If you were at the equator your compass would have to point Down through the spherical Earth to point North, and we know it doesn't. That's 6 thousand miles and a 1/4 turn around the globe. Think about it.
Excellent! When I was affiliated with the BSA we used to teach this to our scouts and they would make their own sets (with instruction), some got so good that they would use an analog watch with a rotating bezel for navigating. Not as exact as a good compass but accurate enough for general direction when you use land marks to avoid lateral drift. Will be looking forward to having one of those.
I have enjoyed watching the evolution of the sun compass. I have made several and played with them. A really nice survival concept!
Dave, you really know how to make this look easy, and I'm really grateful that you keep this series available online. I couldn't remember everything from class and am really enjoying going back over the material. With groundhog day right around the corner, I'm thinking that now is a good time to make a project that includes shadows. Thanks again for all that you do.
Looks like a clever devise to help teach the kids some basics about directions!
Dave, thanks for your efforts on this, the world has needed this for far too long. Knowledge is the best tool! Stay sharp!
I like items like this that force us to really pay attention to the world around us and how it works. This is a good item and can be very accurate if used with proper skill and understanding. Even without much understanding, this can provide a consistent direction in an emergency situation right out of the box. Just keep in mind that there will be sources of error that may be significant.
This is a bit advanced, but I believe it is important to understand when using an item like this, if you orient the noon/North mark to True North it is giving you your local solar time. If you put the shadow on your local solar time, the noon/North mark will be pointing True North. The time from your watch/cell phone/gps is by time zone which may make you as far off as 7.5° depending upon where you are from your meridian (time zone center essentially). There would be an additional 15° error toward the West if your timepiece is showing Daylight Saving Time. This flips around if you're in the Southern Hemisphere BTW and your hours will be backwards if they don't have a Southern Hemisphere option. It is important to correct for these sources of error if you end up using a solar compass for navigation. The accuracy that an instrument like this can achieve is directly proportional to the care and understanding that you use when setting these up. Take the time to orient to True North using an accurate compass (compensating for declination), sightings to Polaris, known landmark on a map (if you know your own location), or another verifiable direction, then note the error with your timepiece. Using that error to compensate for your location/season will make it MUCH more accurate and useful. That error changes rather slowly and could be used for several days if need be.
That correct, a bit more complicated to explain but correct, as you said with this methodology you are least using the same measurement all the time and can eliminate lateral drift
You have put a lot of time and research into this no doubt Dave. It has been really neat to see this evolve and this will be an invaluable tool to help people understand this concept more thoroughly.
I enjoyed it. Nothing wrong with learning multiple ways for direction or bearing. You could take a tumble at anytime and destroy or lose equipment. All the best Dave. 👊.
Great little traning aid. I shared your video a Facebook group for the Long RangeDesert Group.
Very nice kit Dave and great explanation.
Dud a sun clock? 8-O that is so bad ass. I want 1.
Dave, Can you make these kits again?
Would you consider doing a podcast I think me and many people would really enjoy your takes on things and advice
Very cool dave awesome for training
That is a nice manmade compass and I didn't know that one such tool existed, but glad to know this.
Couldn't find the 'Sun Compass' on the website, could you please send me a direct link for purchase purposes. Thank you.
very interesting..looks like a good bit of training kit
Watch the sun rise and Sun set, and the big dipper, or ursa major. If you can't find the bear look for Polaris. But this is old,and does work. AKA the big dipper! The tail of the handle is close to north.
That’s purdy darn cool I’d like to play around with that,I’m assuming must be careful of the nail getting bent probably through ya way off much?
Lookn forwarder to get one er more hope not to pricey
Obrigado Dave por mais esse vídeo. Thank you!
Cant wait to grab a few to teach my boys
Perfect explanation, thanks very much !
The sun compass may actually be MORE accurate. That compass will be pointing at Magnetic North, not Axial North.
Outstanding
That's very nice!
Why would I need something tat only works for a few hours out of a day, and doesn't work when there is no sun? What is with the constant adjusting of the sun compass? I have a real good compass.
LOL, you have completely missed the point but thanks for watching-
If you're in the arctic circle close to the North pole, magnetic North becomes useless as a reference. It's just a back-up. You can also use an analogue watch as a solar compass by casting a shadow in line with you hour hand with a twig and bisecting the angle between 12 and the hour hand to find true North.
Works in both hemispheres?
It's not on your website I'd love to have that
Gonna be about a week
@@DavidCanterbury sweet hey what ever happend to those oval shaped flint strikers with the built in bearing block?
That’s neat. Our ancestors weren’t dumb.
Needle in the doghouse?
Term used with a Compass for North Side of the Needle in the area representing 360 degrees (declination dependent) within the bezel , usually looks like a red arrow outline (or doghouse)
@@DavidCanterbury Thank you Dave, that clears it up.
Interesting how almost everything boils down to "what time is it?" It becomes "interesting" when you lock your receive or transmit frequency to a GPS receiver. Then you can convert the signal to that of one of the earth's more stable time bases and set up a clock that TRULY tells you what the time REALLY is. LOL
Kinda got it..... Badass either way!
This video made me Google "Doghouse" ^_^ TY Dave for the great vid.
leuk en goed en heel oud!!!
looks like a bangood variant ,,, nice
close buddy but you have to think the earth is shifting 15 degrees pole shift
Does daylight savings time effect this method?
Yes and No remember you are not going to be using a compass if you need this so you may be off 15 degrees but you would always be off the same, a bit hard to explain when you are always used to the compass but if you aligned a map with this same tool you are always measuring with the same device- Hope that makes sense
Why not just teach the watch method - which is what you are basically doing. The only advantage I see to that is for people with digital watches.
I would say you did'nt watch the whole video if you believe that- A watch CANNOT eliminate lateral drift over distance-
I think I like it better as a sundial👍🇺🇸aloha
I have no idea what he is talking about!
Cool Kit and Flat Earth evidence. A compass cannot work on a sphere. If you were at the equator your compass would have to point Down through the spherical Earth to point North, and we know it doesn't. That's 6 thousand miles and a 1/4 turn around the globe. Think about it.