One thing I am so sure about modern gadgets is the fact that they are extremely accurate when providing you with guidance but may disappoint you when you least expected.

Why the disappointment?

If you are lost deep in the woods or at sea, how long will the battery in your digital compass sustain you? While using the inbuilt compass in this Apple A1332 iPhone. Halfway through the experiment I felt threaten by a battery level notification. Running out of battery Is a major reason for such disappointment. Some times the device gets lost or damaged. You may also stray into an area with no network coverage. Bottom line is, you may get disappointed for one or a combination of the reasons

Switching below analog

When it's only you and nature, and you have to navigate correctly, your knowledge of celestial bodies like the stars and the sun can be of great help. In this post, we will explore a navigational skill that depends on the movement of the sun.

Navigating with a shadow stick

It is a well established fact that the sun always rises from the East and sets in the West, so the shadow stick will be used to identify East and West and from there we can deduce the North and South.
What are the needed materials,

• Get a straight stick and the recommended length is 3 feet. This stick will be casting the shadow. In this post I am using the stalk of a pawpaw leaf.
• Get three small twigs to serve as markers. Because the ground was too hard, I made use of three small stones as my markers.
• A wrist watch for measuring the 15 minuet interval. A stop watch will be of greater advantage.
• Another straight stick to serve as a pointer.
• Time and patience is also needed

Procedure

• Get to an open area away from trees or structures who's shadow might interfere.
• Pin the 3 feet stick to the ground at a location where the floor is as flat/level as possible. The stick should be straight.
  

• Pin the twig or drop the first stone at the tip of the shadow. [this will be your West] while doing this, the time was 14:00

• Wait for 15 minuets. which in my case took me to 14:15 and at that point, pin the second twig at the new position of the shadows tip. In my case, I simply placed the second stone.
  

• it's time to count another 15 Minuets which in my case meant an appointment with the shadow's tip by 14:30. And when it was 14:30, I placed the last marker which is my East point.
  

• Now I had to use the last stick which will be my East to West pointer. Place it along the three markers.

• After aligning the stick with the three markers, the end of the pointer stick towards the first marker is pointing to the West while the other end pointing towards the last marker is pointing due East.
  

• If you should stand facing the pointer stick so that you'r left foot is at the first marker which is West and your right foot is at the last marker which is East, at that position, the North is right in front of you with the South behind you.

Confirmation

At the end of this exercise, I used a compass from my Apple iPhone 4 and the result was so close that the error margin was less than 15 degrees.

Precautionary Measures

You will need a larger space if you are doing this in the morning or evening hours because casted shadows will be longer.
The time interval should be uniform for all there markers and the recommended time is 15 minutes.
Pin the shadow stick well to avoid being knocked down by wind

Advantage of the method

Convenient for day time travel, requires no power or special skills, can be reused many times during the day. The needed materials are readily available. Repeat the procedure a number of times till it becomes a part of you.

Conclusion

This navigational system can be trusted to help find our way home.