OSOT - Operation Support Our Troops

Materials:

"Magic Crystals" - which are the watering crystals you put in the soil of your potted plants. They swell (alot) with water and then give it off slowly to the plants, or to a hot neck in our case. I found them at the very big national chain: W-M. They can be found in the garden department and the ones I got were called "Moisture Plus".....and put out by a company with the same name as the German sergeant in the old tv show Hogan's Heroes. One jar will make MANY neck-coolers....costs about $7-8 as I remember.)

You can also find crystals at www.watersorb.com. Order medium craft rather than agricultural. Use 1/8 tsp per pocket if you are doing 4 pockets. For just two pockets, use 1/4tsp. These take half as much as the WM Magic Crystals.

Material and matching thread – Troops in Iraq and Kuwait are wearing desert cammo; troops in Afghanistan are wearing green cammo. I found green cammo material at the same chain store. I didn't find desert cammo, but did find a material that suited. (I bought 44" wide material because it was a good length for around the neck.)

Directions (version 1):

I washed the material (100% cotton) before beginning the project just to make it softer on the soldiers' necks....this is nice but not necessary. Slice up whatever amount of material you've got into 3 1/2" strips (by 44"). Fold lengthwise, good sides together, and sew together, leaving one end open and tapering the other end to a point. Turn the sewed strip inside out so that you have the good side visible. Now you will make pockets for the crystals. Sew a line widthwise about 14" from the tapered end. Pour into the open end 1/4 tsp of crystals and make sure that they slide down to your sewed line. Measure 4" and sew another line widthwise, making that first pocket about 4" long. Do this 3 more times until you have four pockets filled with crystals. Now just sew up the open end, and you've got a SUPER-DOOPER NECK-COOLER........

One note of caution: You may be tempted to add more crystals to each pocket, thinking that more is better. However, these crystals swell ALOT, and packing them too tightly will leave your soldier with something that won't bend enough to go around his/her neck. (1/8 tsp swelled to about 1/3 cup of gelatinous balls for me.) You might decide to make your neck-coolers a bit wider and that's fine, but remember that many of our soldiers are wearing kevlars and flak jackets. This does not leave much room around the neck....better perhaps to let them wear two if two fit rather than send one that is too big and makes them uncomfortable.

OK, that's it.......all the soldiers have to do is soak the collars in water for a few minutes until they swell and then tie them on....(first soaking might take five minutes or more)......The crystals eventually wear out and will not absorb as much water. However, they should last a month or two........

Beware: Escaped crystals are slippery when wet!! Sweep up or don’t spill!!Print, duplicate and insert one section from this page of directions with every neck cooler. The directions are in .pdf format for easy printing.

Directions (version 2):

I have been making my neck coolers a little differently. I take my strip of fabric and sew the two ends closed continuing the seam in 14 inches from the end, leaving the center section open. I turn the strip and press it, making sure to press the open seam allowance in. The strip will look finished but there is a large opening on the top. I measure and stitch across the strip to make the 4 pockets. I put the 1/4 tsp of
crystal in each pocket and then top stitch the opening closed. I do it more on the assembly line method doing each step to all my strips.

~ from Jamie

Directions (version 3):
alternate neck cooler directions with specific instructions for those using a serger.

And....directions to make a small drawstring storage bag.