Measuring time

Moosez45

Moosez45

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I was just curious, I was taught years ago by a Ranger buddy of mine, to measure time til sundown. I use this method so that way I have time to get camp set.

Basically, 1 finger equals 15 min. I hold my hand flat up, so the back of my hand faces the sun. Place the top of your forefinger to the top of the sun and see how many fingers it is to an obscurement that will block the sun, i.e. a mountain, big trees, and so on. Its worked for me for years, and I was just curious if anyone else used this method.

PS, I do wear a watch, Timex Expedition, it has a digital compass that don't work, LOL Moose
 
I use that method all the time, since I first saw Les Hiddens use it about ten years ago. Reasonably accurate too. I wear a watch ,but try to guess the time first to see how accurate I can "wing" it. 90% of the time, I'm within a 1/2 hr. of what time it is. The finger trick is good later in the afternoon.
 
The way that I have heard and used it is - you have 1 hour of light for each hand (width) the sun is above the horizon... ;) The only problem is that it is only useful if you can see the horizon!!!
 
Reorx said:
The way that I have heard and used it is - you have 1 hour of light for each hand (width) the sun is above the horizon... ;) The only problem is that it is only useful if you can see the horizon!!!
Click to expand...

Yah, but it still tells you how long (approximately) before the sun is below the horizon, even if that horizon is the next mountain range. COntinuing to measure below the obstructions to the supposed flat horizon still gives you approximate time till full dark.
 
It'll also work any other time of the day. Align the sun over a fixed object, and it'll move about a fingerwidth (at arm's length) in about 15 minutes. The horizon at sundown (or sunrise) is very noticeable, but you can of course track the sun over any fixed object on the horizon.

And at night, you can do the same trick with stars--it's often easier at night, because if you have a good supply of stars, they tend to line up much more easily over objects you can see on the horizon.
 
Codger_64 said:
Yah, but it still tells you how long (approximately) before the sun is below the horizon, even if that horizon is the next mountain range. COntinuing to measure below the obstructions to the supposed flat horizon still gives you approximate time till full dark.
Click to expand...
I wasn't so much thinking "mountain" but more like "dense forest"... ;)
 
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