Desert Survival: How to Tell Direction with a Shadow Stick

 This winter we've been watching a lot of survival shows, mainly because Desert Boy is fascinated with them. (And in case you wanted to watch some, here they are in my order of preference: Man, Woman Wild; Out of the Wild: Venezuela; Dual Survival; Man vs. Wild; Survivorman.)

Desert Boy talks about survival all the time. So we talk about how to be safe. And although he really wants to practice his fire-making skills, we decided we'd start small. So we tried a survival skill to determine which direction is which. Now, out in the Great Basin, that's often not something that's hard to figure out, as most of the 300+ mountain ranges run north-south. But when we travel, we might need to know the direction.

The first step to finding your direction with a shadow stick is to insert a stick into the ground. Note: a straight stick is recommended, and some survival manuals recommend a 3-foot long stick. Sticks that long are dangerous around my kids, so we used one-foot long.

 After the stick is in the ground, mark the end of the shadow it casts with a stone or other object that won't be disturbed. (Note: this technique only works when it's sunny.) Then wait 10-15 minutes (or longer if you get distracted by hunting lunch, making a fire, building your shelter, etc.)

After you've waited a bit, check the shadow stick and mark the end of the shadow with another rock.


Draw a line between the two rocks. This is an east-west line; the second stone placed marks east. The line that intersects the line is true north-south (which differs a bit from magnetic north-south).

Simple! I did it again a few days later in a different location, and it still worked. I guess the earth hadn't changed its rotation.

This is a great, quick activity for kids and kids-at-heart. Stay tuned as we experiment with more survival techniques in the near future. And if you have ideas for ones we should try, please leave a comment!