Military

Sock Water

US Marines from the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance battalion, put water bottles inside wet socks to chill water, known as "sock water," during midday heat reaching temperatures of 125 degrees in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, August 9, 2009. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
US Marines from the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance battalion, put water bottles inside wet socks to chill water, known as "sock water," during midday heat reaching temperatures of 125 degrees in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, August 9, 2009. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

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.”

Chris Carter

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