sun rising on your left-setting on your right = you are facing South
sun rising on your right- setting on your left =you are facing North
( if you are North of the Equator--dont know about if your South of the Equator)

ok, im really sorry for being 2 years late buuuttttt do you have to wait a whole 15 minuts or can you just wait like... 3 minuts or will therre still be no shadow?

Tiny URL at

http://tinyurl.com/FindNorth

It's not the Morning or Afternoon-ness of the shadow, it's that the Sun moves WEST constantly, so the Shadow moves EAST constantly, and after 45 Minutes, it's pointing directly East. Way Cool. I never would have thought of something so simple. You should get the Nobel Prize.

But, if you'd done this in the morning, wouldn't your shadow be cast in the opposite direction?

Great instructable!

i feel so stupid now. well done.

Well done, thanks for sharing a very valuable instructable!

Cool, looks amazingly easy, never thought it could be this easy!

Wow this is really usefull!

I had no idea finding the compass points was that easy. Excellent instructable. Thanks! Let's hope I never need to know it for survival purposes!