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On water, you can use the curvature of the earth to help you, and change your height instead of moving. According to the Boat Safe Kids web site, the formula for how far away the visible horizon is over water (in other words, how far you can see) is 1.17 * sqrt(eye height in feet) = (distance in miles) While wikihow says sqrt (1.5 * eye height in ...

Moss grows best in the shade (and damp, but most relevant here is shade). Because of the curvature of the Earth, in the northern hemisphere the north side of trees is shadier than the south side, so if moss grows on only one side of a tree, it is likely to be the north side. In the southern hemisphere, the whole thing is mirrored so the moss is on the south ...

You have two questions there. I will try to answer both: 1) Triangulation - if you can reasonably accurately pace out a 100 metre baseline and can estimate angles to within a few degrees then a rough estimate of distance is possible. An example from eso.org - in reality it is much easier than this as you can use very rough estimations to make the ...

A compass is "accurate" in both hemispheres in that it should still point to magnetic north. But the problem is that when you're in the southern hemisphere, the magnetic north pole is sort of 'under your feet' so the compass needs to be one that's specially 'balanced' for the Southern hemisphere to ensure the needle moves smoothly and responds fast. You ...

The most important thing is not to wander around randomly looking for each other - this is how a lot of mild situations become severe ones, especially if visibility is poor (a highly likely cause of a group becoming separated.) The best policy to take is one of prevention rather than cure - ensure everyone is visible at regular intervals, don't wander far ...

Depending on the terrain, a map is often very usable even without a compass or a GPS. If the terrain is anything-but-flat you can generally use the contours of the terrain to orient the map correctly. "Walk down this valley until it branches, then head for the mountain aproximately 30 degrees west." doesn't require a compass. Learn to read contour-lines on ...

Typically, if you are out in the open ocean and do not have a GPS device you don't have any useful way to measure velocity* This may not be a problem though, as what you are wanting is not your velocity, but an indication that you are heading in a straight line to the destination (if we assume a constant current) To do this, what you need is something to ...

The most important part is to agree on a strategy beforehand and to not continue forward when you're injured, lost, or disoriented. A typical strategy might be: Each hiker to go at their own pace to that day's destination. The first group there gets to setup camp so the slower hikers aren't trying to do too many things, like hanging their bear bag, in the ...

Moss prefers damp locations irrespective of facing. You need to cut out a few variables before you can use moss as a pretty reliable method to determine North: Ignore moss on the ground. The ground is usually damp due to water evaporating. Ignore moss that's growing on an incline. An incline slows water run off so the area stays damper for longer. Ignore ...

I think you can safely take any undocumented variation of a white-red marking to mean this is the right way, unless it's clearly a cross: Red-white-red markings below the Scatta Minoia, between Alpe Devero and Pomatt, near Domodossola, Italy. It is my impression that in Italy one sees whatever the painters felt like (I've seen white-red, white-red-white, ...

There is a lot of crazy signage where you have to guess what it means. Some is old and messy, I've noticed that they have been cleaning it up and redoing lots of it. With small and neat signs. Sometimes you've got to guess and look for other signage.

There's some truth to it in that moss prefers shady areas rather than directly sunny ones, so (in the northern hemisphere) since the north is the generally more shady part, you'd assume moss will be more likely to grow on the north of the tree. For me though, it's nothing more than a curious fact rather than anything to reliably use in terms of orientation ...

You cannot estimate the current speed and direction on the open ocean without a fixed reference or navigation aid. But you can watch a star behind the rig to make sure your track is toward the oil rig. If you can swim faster than the current, you can always swim directly toward the oil rig and get there. You'll just have a curved track and will get to enjoy ...

Each scenario is probably different, so you'd likely make a plan on the hoof: How far are you from your previous 'checkpoint', and how far is it to the next? What time of day is it, etc... If the 'lost' couple were at the rear of the group (a likely scenario) and you're following a rerasonably well defined trail, then backtracking for a while (or at least, ...

I want to suggest a couple of books I really like: "The Natural Navigator" by Tristan Gooley Navigating without a Map or Compass by Harold Gatty These books are not about quick tips and tricks. These books are filled with stories, history and a lot of nuances that will take a lot of time to actually master. These books are great for anyone who is really ...

Jason S's "use the map" or / and Russell Steen's "use landmarks" Noam Gal's and berry120's "use the sun" (1) Graham's "use the stars" use rivers - rivers provide water, animals, human-inhabited places, never go in circles and always flow in a consistent direction (this is kind of "use landmarks") climb up high - 1. find a naked hilltop 2. climb it 3. you ...