Imagine you’re stuck in a forest and all you have is a watch, water, and food. How would you make it out safely with just these 3 supplies? The watch will give you an idea of what time it is, but there are so many other things it can help you with as well, such as starting a fire or even calling out for help. Read more to find out how a watch can help you survive!
1. Compass
You can use your watch as a compass when you don’t know which direction to go. All you have to do is to lay the watch flat on your hand with the clock facing upwards, then rotate the entire watch until the “12 hand” is pointing in the direction of the sun. The point midway between the hour hand and the 12 on the watch will be North. If you want to know which way the southern hemisphere is, then rotate the watch until the hour hand is pointing in the direction of the sun. The point midway between the hour hand and the 12 on the watch will be South.
2. Dismantling
If you ever dissected a watch, you might have noticed that it is filled with several small components and most watches are easily opened up from the back. Look around the backplate for a small notch that can be used to pry off the backing with a sharp knife. With the back of the watch removed, the remaining components can be easily removed from the watch housing. The glass front of the watch can also be carefully knocked out of the metal housing with a blunt stick, or rock wrapped in cloth. Once the watch is dismantled, you can use it for cutting things, starting a fire, and reflecting things.
3. Starting a Fire
Many watches use a convex lens as the glass cover over the watch face because it makes it easier to read the time and it is also perfect for starting a fire. Wipe the lens clean of any smudges and hold it about 6 inches from your dry tinder. Hold the lens perpendicular to the sunlight and move the lens to focus the sun into a point of light. Move this point to the tinder and hold for a few seconds, the intensely focused beam of light will be incredibly hot and should easily ignite your tinder and start the fire.
4. Reflective
Have you ever noticed how the back of most watches, is reflective? Well, there is a reason for it. The solid reflective back is perfect for getting attention from people far away or even passing aircraft. If your watch back has a matte finish, try buffing the watch back with any cotton cloth to shine it up, then point the watch back facing the sun and try and reflect the sunlight. If you’re feeling really confident, you can even flash out Morse code and send a message.
5. Making a Blade
In survival situations, you can use your watch to create a blade! Cover the glass front of the watch with a leaf, gently tap on the glass to fracture, and create glass shards. You’ll easily find a few pieces that are super sharp and can easily be made into a blade. Use your glass shard to cut a long continuous strip of leather from your watch strap, to lash the glass shard to a handle. To make a handle find a sturdy stick with an opening on one end, then insert the glass shard to its seated securely in the opening and lash it tightly with the leather strip. While it’s certainly not as sturdy as a real knife, this blade can easily cut fabric and flesh.
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