Sock Water

Sounds refreshing – if you’re a Marine in Afghanistan!

From The New York Times‘ “At War” blog:

It’s a simple contraption: A sock is hung on rope or string in the shade. A water bottle is placed inside. The sock is then soaked with water from another bottle.

As the water evaporates and the sock dries, the bottle inside cools by as much as thirty degrees, said Lance Cpl. Cory Bennett, 20, from Baton Rouge, La., who distributes water to the Marines here.

And I frown when my orange juice isn’t frosty cold.

The temperature differential makes all the difference for water that has been sitting in the blazing sun or stored atop the Marines’ light armored vehicles.

“It’s not cold” after getting the sock-water treatment, Lance Corporal Bennett said. “But it’s not so hot that it burns your mouth, either.”