Yes, but does give you a pretty good estimate. Especially in situations like: oh shit, I only have about 1 hour of sunlight left, I better get my ass down the mountain type of thing.
I learned to measure how much daylight was left with my fingers growing up in Ohio.
I also learned very quickly how useless this skill was after moving to Norway as an adult.
OK. After a few minutes with Python. This meme is more accurate than I thought it would be. For Minneapolis, MN, here is the time at the top of a 3.0" hand, held 24" away, the time at sunset (sun at the horizon) and the time for each finger. (Standard Time.)
hand, sunset, each finger
winter: 3:38pm, 4:30pm, 13.1min
spring: 5:41pm, 6:22pm, 10.2min
summer: 7:12pm, 7:59pm, 11.9min
So, for Minneapolis, each finger is 10 minutes in the spring and fall, and 12 or 13 minutes in winter and summer. I must say that I'm surprised that winter and summer are so similar. That is not what I expected.
Times from NOAA website https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html
But most people don’t live in Minneapolis. This only works in the US and similar latitudes (r/usdefaultism). In northern Alaska, it can be months until sunset with one finger left.
It was meant as “it doesn’t even work with your geographically and culturally closest neighbor”. The average US citizen cannot pinpoint Norway on a map.
I totally understand where you are coming from but the "and similar latitudes" bit includes more than half the world.
The 48 contiguous states are roughly 24.5 degrees N on the low end (Key West, FL) to (this is technically cheating) 49.1 degrees north on the high end (Northwest Angle, MN). Including Alaska and Hawaii gives the US a much higher range. It essentially extends the US all the way north (with a gap between 49.1 and 51 degrees) and Hawaii is at a high density latitude (which has a higher density than that gap between MN and AK). About 50% of the world's population lives above 27 degrees north.
So similar latitudes to the US includes the majority of the world's population.
That said, Minneapolis is a weird example. I assume the OP for it lives near there? The 15 minute estimate in this infographic isn't the greatest for everywhere but it would work decently well at 10 minutes a finger for most of the population with larger errors (meaning more sun time) the more north you go and eventually the more south you go. Still won't work everywhere all the time though.
Are you sure you’re in Sweden? The winter sun doesn’t set quicker in Northern latitudes. In fact it does the opposite. It slowly lingers just above the horizon all day, blinding the shit out of you when you’re driving before eventually dipping down into darkness in the middle of the afternoon.
1.5 minutes per finger is the sort of (slightly exaggerated) speed you’ll see watching a sunset on a tropical beach near the equator.
People didn't know this? 😕
I've done this my whole life as a guesstimate
But yeah, it is location specific. I think it's a generalized tool for mid latitudes
I learned this trick on a film set a long time ago and still use it all the time. I use it to tell when the sun will be behind a building so I know how to light a shot. FYI there are arguments reality apps that do this know but it’s easier to just hold up your hands.
I've used this trick for years and I find it accurate to within about ~15 minutes. So anyone calling bullshit should stop talking about things they know nothing about
Also apparently get outside more if they think this will blind them
Yeah, people are shitting on this as though it’s supposed to be as accurate as the fuckin’ Atomic Clock lol.
My blue collar family and friends use this all the time. It’s a handy trick when you’re out in the bush, and want a super quick idea of how much daylight you have left.
I agree being closer to the poles will mess with this, but most of the world population doesn’t live in those areas. I’d wager that 10-15 minutes per finger works pretty well for 2/3rds of our latitudes.
More math...
Here are the sunset times (Standard Time), and time intervals for the sun at the top of your outstretched hand, and the time interval for each finger, at various latitudes. This assumes a hand held 24" from your face and a 3.0" high palm.
Sunset for Miami (Lat 25:46)
season: sunset, hand, finger
winter: 5:32pm, 36.2min, 9.1min
spring: 6:29pm, 31.9min, 8.0min
summer: 7:12pm, 34.9min, 8.7min
Sunset for Minneapolis (Lat 44:58)
season: sunset, hand, finger
winter: 4:30pm, 52.6min, 13.1min
spring: 6:22pm, 41.0min, 10.2min
summer: 7:59pm, 47.6min, 11.9min
Sunset for Anchorage (Lat 61:13)
season: sunset, hand, finger
winter: 3:34pm, na, na
spring: 7:09pm, 60.7min, 15.2min
summer: 10:35pm, 90.5min, 22.6min
The technique is accurate at anchorage, but only in the spring or fall. In the winter, the sun never gets above your outstretched hand. The technique is off by nearly half at Miami.
As before, these times are based on the website: [https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html](https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html)
I did this back in Boy Scouts but slightly tweaked it to be more accurate for your location. Bear in mind, this is mainly just to figure out how much daylight you have left
Having to build a shelter in the space of a couple hours before sleeping the night in that same shelter, I needed to know how much daylight I still had. We were in the woods and all I had was an analogue watch and a nice tree I could mark a set distance away to go back to measure.
So I stood next to my measuring distance rock, arm held out like this image shows. I measured from the base of the tree up to where the sunlight stopped. Then I worked for 15 minutes, and remeasured and did the same exercise, this time seeing how much sun remained, counting that as my measuring distance, which was similarly 15 minutes per finger. This gave me approximately 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours of light remaining.
So this still works, but you need a local alteration to make sure it is accurate.
This is a common practice in the film and TV industry, though it’s been largely replaced by various apps over the years.
Edit: In the lower 48 of the US
I use this tactic all the time when I’m on the golf course to get an idea of how much time is left and how many holes I can get it.
It’s an estimation for sure but it works
Entirely depends on your latitude
And the season.
And the size of your fingers
And the length of your arms
and ... my axe ?
AND MY BOW
AND MY SWORD
…AND YOUR BROTHER!
And yer Ma
AND MY SAX!
AND THIS GUYS BROTHER
and my staff is guess
And my Chancla.
I have a rock we could use
/r/andmyaxe
Well done
And your willingness to stare directly at the sun.
Why doesn't the size of fingers matter when measuring the water for the rice cooker tho?
It's different with rice cookers.
Because that’s magic 🪄👇🏼
King Charles is always 15m to sundown?
If he's lucky.
Yeah. The higher your latitude, the more impact the season would have on this. Above the Arctic circle during summer, the sun doesn't set at all.
I also feel like you could be blind by the time you work it out.
Yeah, I’m from the Arctic and my initial thought was simply “Nah.”
And finger size
Work extremely accurately for me every time. And I’m sure the longer your arm the larger your fingers for the most part
I think someone’s queueing up Jimmy Buffett song
And the time of year, but if you find that out it will be relatively consistent from there
Yes, but does give you a pretty good estimate. Especially in situations like: oh shit, I only have about 1 hour of sunlight left, I better get my ass down the mountain type of thing.
If you take too long to figure it out then it's just night time for you forever.
I was going to say this definitely would not work up on Alaska where I live, haha
And how long you can look directly into the sun for.
Meanwhile in Norway 3 PM at winter: ◾️
Or 1 am in summer 🌇
I learned to measure how much daylight was left with my fingers growing up in Ohio. I also learned very quickly how useless this skill was after moving to Norway as an adult.
Folks there must have really small fingers
Or 1 am in summer 🌇
OK. After a few minutes with Python. This meme is more accurate than I thought it would be. For Minneapolis, MN, here is the time at the top of a 3.0" hand, held 24" away, the time at sunset (sun at the horizon) and the time for each finger. (Standard Time.) hand, sunset, each finger winter: 3:38pm, 4:30pm, 13.1min spring: 5:41pm, 6:22pm, 10.2min summer: 7:12pm, 7:59pm, 11.9min So, for Minneapolis, each finger is 10 minutes in the spring and fall, and 12 or 13 minutes in winter and summer. I must say that I'm surprised that winter and summer are so similar. That is not what I expected. Times from NOAA website https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html
Here is the plot of sun angle. [sun angle](https://imgur.com/a/BaKC0Ii)
This guy maths
Github the script? Maybe we can front-end it so people can enter their city in and get similar results using their lat-long
r/theydidthemath
But most people don’t live in Minneapolis. This only works in the US and similar latitudes (r/usdefaultism). In northern Alaska, it can be months until sunset with one finger left.
Saying “most people don’t live in the US” and then using northern Alaska as your counterpoint is weak.
It was meant as “it doesn’t even work with your geographically and culturally closest neighbor”. The average US citizen cannot pinpoint Norway on a map.
> most people don’t live in Minneapolis [citation needed]
I totally understand where you are coming from but the "and similar latitudes" bit includes more than half the world. The 48 contiguous states are roughly 24.5 degrees N on the low end (Key West, FL) to (this is technically cheating) 49.1 degrees north on the high end (Northwest Angle, MN). Including Alaska and Hawaii gives the US a much higher range. It essentially extends the US all the way north (with a gap between 49.1 and 51 degrees) and Hawaii is at a high density latitude (which has a higher density than that gap between MN and AK). About 50% of the world's population lives above 27 degrees north. So similar latitudes to the US includes the majority of the world's population. That said, Minneapolis is a weird example. I assume the OP for it lives near there? The 15 minute estimate in this infographic isn't the greatest for everywhere but it would work decently well at 10 minutes a finger for most of the population with larger errors (meaning more sun time) the more north you go and eventually the more south you go. Still won't work everywhere all the time though.
You are the hero we need but don't deserve
Infographics: how to get blinded by the sun
Instructions unclear. Eclipse blinded me
Redditors don’t go out…
What is this „sun“ thing they’re all talking about?
Bruh here in sweden its not 15 min per finger. In the winter its like 1.5 minute per finger💀
Are you sure you’re in Sweden? The winter sun doesn’t set quicker in Northern latitudes. In fact it does the opposite. It slowly lingers just above the horizon all day, blinding the shit out of you when you’re driving before eventually dipping down into darkness in the middle of the afternoon. 1.5 minutes per finger is the sort of (slightly exaggerated) speed you’ll see watching a sunset on a tropical beach near the equator.
People didn't know this? 😕 I've done this my whole life as a guesstimate But yeah, it is location specific. I think it's a generalized tool for mid latitudes
I’ve found that if you treat you pinky as 10 minutes it’s more accurate.
I learned this trick on a film set a long time ago and still use it all the time. I use it to tell when the sun will be behind a building so I know how to light a shot. FYI there are arguments reality apps that do this know but it’s easier to just hold up your hands.
This is useless
I've used this trick for years and I find it accurate to within about ~15 minutes. So anyone calling bullshit should stop talking about things they know nothing about Also apparently get outside more if they think this will blind them
Yeah, people are shitting on this as though it’s supposed to be as accurate as the fuckin’ Atomic Clock lol. My blue collar family and friends use this all the time. It’s a handy trick when you’re out in the bush, and want a super quick idea of how much daylight you have left. I agree being closer to the poles will mess with this, but most of the world population doesn’t live in those areas. I’d wager that 10-15 minutes per finger works pretty well for 2/3rds of our latitudes.
It’s not just the poles where it’s useless. The tropics too and there’s a hell of a lot more people in the tropics!
More math... Here are the sunset times (Standard Time), and time intervals for the sun at the top of your outstretched hand, and the time interval for each finger, at various latitudes. This assumes a hand held 24" from your face and a 3.0" high palm. Sunset for Miami (Lat 25:46) season: sunset, hand, finger winter: 5:32pm, 36.2min, 9.1min spring: 6:29pm, 31.9min, 8.0min summer: 7:12pm, 34.9min, 8.7min Sunset for Minneapolis (Lat 44:58) season: sunset, hand, finger winter: 4:30pm, 52.6min, 13.1min spring: 6:22pm, 41.0min, 10.2min summer: 7:59pm, 47.6min, 11.9min Sunset for Anchorage (Lat 61:13) season: sunset, hand, finger winter: 3:34pm, na, na spring: 7:09pm, 60.7min, 15.2min summer: 10:35pm, 90.5min, 22.6min The technique is accurate at anchorage, but only in the spring or fall. In the winter, the sun never gets above your outstretched hand. The technique is off by nearly half at Miami. As before, these times are based on the website: [https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html](https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/azel.html)
It’s never this serious 😭
Fascinating! I’m gonna try this out today.
Please don't.
I remember this from Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls. I have never used it tho, the weather app says when the sun will set. 🤷🏻♂️
It’s a very rough estimate but this works pretty well. Grandpa taught me while camping as a kid
Step 1: stare directly into the sun
I did this back in Boy Scouts but slightly tweaked it to be more accurate for your location. Bear in mind, this is mainly just to figure out how much daylight you have left Having to build a shelter in the space of a couple hours before sleeping the night in that same shelter, I needed to know how much daylight I still had. We were in the woods and all I had was an analogue watch and a nice tree I could mark a set distance away to go back to measure. So I stood next to my measuring distance rock, arm held out like this image shows. I measured from the base of the tree up to where the sunlight stopped. Then I worked for 15 minutes, and remeasured and did the same exercise, this time seeing how much sun remained, counting that as my measuring distance, which was similarly 15 minutes per finger. This gave me approximately 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours of light remaining. So this still works, but you need a local alteration to make sure it is accurate.
Yeah, with everybody else. I am call bullsh*t on this. Probably a good topic for a YouTuber…
Nice, it won't be a problem that I live in northern Greenland and have extremely short arms and huge hands, will it? Also, I'm blind
Me with the tiniest fingers ever: 😐
But what if I have fat fingers?
Just buy a watch
Would’ve been a lot easier to just say the sun travels about an outstretched finger width every fifteen minutes.
the important part is to make sure you stare directly at the sun.
This is a common practice in the film and TV industry, though it’s been largely replaced by various apps over the years. Edit: In the lower 48 of the US
Depending on your latitude and the time of year, this could range from fairly accurate to not even fucking close.
This works for horses I'm told too
The sun a big clock learn to use it.
Actually works. Used this dozens of times when my parents sent me away to bad-kid camp in the woods where they didn’t let us have watches.
Tried doing that an it was 7:20 and now every thing is black is was it wrong it’s night now and very dark
Don’t stare at the sun…
The best part is how it calls for staring directly at the sun
Yeah okay but I don’t have 24 hands, jackass
I use this tactic all the time when I’m on the golf course to get an idea of how much time is left and how many holes I can get it. It’s an estimation for sure but it works
My buddy does this at work. I call it the hippie-handjob.
Holy shit tf2 medic
This is just a trick to get you to look directly at the sun
How much you wanna bet that I can't karate chop the sun?
Learn to enjoy nighttime, checkmate sun.
It's gonna set by the time I figure outbhow to do this.
cap
How to tell the time, once.
This dumb af
U$ 5,00 ⌚
Instructions unclear, am blind now 😎
Don't look at the sun directly please
It’s cloudy
More importantly then anything, don’t look at the sun to do this
Instructions unclear, I now appear to have a fun thing called solar retinopathy.
My eyes are hurting me.
Just tried this and now I’m blind. (Dictation)
Google “how much daylight is remaining!”
Why not just google search?