Do-it-yourself bottle boat. How to make a kayak - a boat from plastic bottles
Winter is not the best best time years to think about building boats. But to make this kayak, you need to prepare all the necessary material in advance, and this is at least 270 plastic bottles. Therefore, free up an extra room for them, because very soon you will have your own boat, reliable and strong. But still, you should not go down on it along a mountain river to the sea in a storm. It is perfect for a quiet shallow lake or pool.
1.
You will need:
2. Deck
With its design, the boat will resemble an ordinary punt. The basic principle of work is to make several flat layers and fix them on top of each other. It is necessary to glue the bottles together, side by side, to get neat sections. The optimal thickness of the adhesive is 5-6 mm.
As a result, you should get a deck of 12 horizontal sections of the following sizes:
3. Body
After the deck is glued, let it dry thoroughly according to the instructions on the glue. Do not waste precious minutes, because it is time to take care of the hull of the boat. The hull will be slightly smaller than the deck, but the principle of creation remains the same. You should have 11 horizontal sections for the second layer with the following dimensions:
4. Base layer
After all the sections are ready, and the glue has dried, you can do it directly installation work. Glue the bottle end-to-end (bottom to bottom, cap to cap). Connect the bottles as shown in the picture. Connect the two parts of the bottom from the sections until you reach the 6th section. Then two halves, each consisting of 6 sections, connect the bottoms of the bottles. The caps in the rear half will look aft, and the caps in the forward half will look forward.
5. Further installation work
A "V"-shaped depression is formed between the bottles of the base layer. As soon as it dries, start gluing the second on top of the first directly with these "V"-cavities between the bottles of the base layer. Each bottle of the second layer must be offset so that it touches the two bottles of the base layer section, as shown in the picture. This second layer acts as the bottom of the boat. Press all sections together with heavy books or objects or immobile people for a while until the glue dries.
6. Seat
Next we make the seat. Glue a separate bottle layer - 2 sections of 11 bottles - and glue it all over the main frame. We warn you that sitting on this is very uncomfortable, so it is better to spread a towel or pillow.
7. Finishing touch
Now you need to make a gunwale, a bottle deck board. Glue 2 rows of bottles side by side along the edges of the largest layer, and then add another one to further protect yourself from splashes.
8. Test time
The boat is ready to be launched. Ideally, use the oars of a kayak. If you weigh more than 75 kg, then you need to make a boat in three layers of the hull. A boat made of plastic bottles is perfect for fun by the pool or in shallow water. We do not recommend using it to cross the English Channel.
A plastic bottle is a very convenient material for building a homemade boat. To break through such a bottle, you need to try and that is why the use of empty bottles from beer and carbonated drinks is so convenient for making a small home-made boat.
The first thing to do is empty the containers of drinks. You can, of course, buy empty bottles, but this is not sporty. It is much more pleasant to sail on a homemade boat made of plastic bottles, drinks from which you have consumed over a certain period.
So, for example - all winter you can procure material for building a boat by emptying bottles from your favorite beer, and in the spring start building.
Definitely perfect for a serious hike. inflatable boat made of PVC, but you can also organize a weekend rafting on a boat made of plastic bottles.
How to build a boat out of plastic bottles
There are two options in the construction - a more complex one can be seen in the photo above, “logs” are made from bottles the length of the boat.
To do this, the neck and bottom of the bottle are cut off, the middle parts are inserted into each other with glue, and the seam is wrapped around with transparent tape on the outside.
Such a connection keeps the increase in internal pressure up to 6-8 atmospheres, so that even a sharp blow to the bottom of the reservoir will not break the "log" of the boat.
The second version of the construction can be seen in the video below - the bottles are connected to each other with tape and mesh. A home-made bottle boat made in this way is less stable, but nevertheless suitable for small alloys.
You can also use the option with a frame - then plastic bottles are attached from the bottom in 2-3 layers and the sides are made from them.
Here is another video that shows how such a homemade product can float, pay attention - it even has a motor!
By the way, in the days of the USSR, home-made rafts for alloys were also made using similar technologies, only balloons were used instead of bottles, they were inflated and placed in specially sewn cases. Today, balls can be replaced with empty bottles - after all, bottles are much more resistant to mechanical stress, which means that the raft for the alloy will turn out to be more reliable.
Look at the photo above, a similar raft is being assembled on it. Bottles are combined into bags, and they are already attached to the bottom of a makeshift raft. On the water, such a raft will stand evenly and have a high carrying capacity.
By the way, there is also a real yacht in the manufacture of which plastic bottles were used. Plastiki is the name of this vessel. 12.5 thousand plastic bottles went into its manufacture and it successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney.
If you decide to do this homemade boat then take a look at the article.
Surely, many craftsmen have thought about how to use the buoyancy of empty plastic bottles to make a small boat or raft for fishing. In fact, putting this idea into practice is not so easy. Apparently, therefore, there are not so many examples of such creativity, but still they exist.
An industrial engineer from Argentina, Federico Blanc, calculated and built a similar design in the form of a narrow kayak. The boat can carry two adults with additional cargo.
The boat floats perfectly and is often used for its intended purpose on the Argentinean Parana River. The author did not immediately come to this construction. He made several experiments with assembling a boat from standard bottles with closed caps. In the end, an ideal design of long cylinders was obtained.
The most important and difficult element of the construction is to glue oblong cylinders from several large bottles. Two extreme bottles are taken with whole necks closed with corks. For the rest, the bottom and neck are cut off from the bottles. The bottles are glued together with overlapping walls on top of each other. Of course, such work will require some time and ingenuity. But now the master has made his dream come true. In addition to two people and fishing gear, there was enough space on the boat for a small refrigerator, indeed, a dream and not a vacation.
Another version of a plastic bottle boat was made by the owner and staff of a small hotel on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji. Here, when designing, they went what is called "on the forehead." The bottles are simply glued together; to increase buoyancy, the bottom is made of a piece of thick foam.
Parts of the structure for tightness were poured from the inside with a waterproof mounting foam, I'm really not sure that such foam is in our stores. On the other hand, I know from experience that good foam sticks to any material and you can't just tear it off. Outside, the product is covered with a film, which increases the rigidity of the connection. Despite its rather strange appearance, the boat can withstand three grown men afloat.
The case was not limited to one boat, square rafts were also assembled. A raft is certainly easier to make than a boat. It is enough to take some light sheet material, it can be a piece of foam, reinforced on top with a piece of plywood of the same size. Then, under the foam, two or three rows of bottles are glued from below.
Helpful Hints
Things made with your own hands are always more valuable and more expensive. We bring to your attention a master class, thanks to which you can learn how to make not only beautiful, but also useful things from plastic bottles.
See also: palm tree from plastic bottles
Bird dispenser from a plastic bottle
You will need:
- 1 liter plastic bottle.
- 2 wooden spoons.
- Screw.
- Rope.
1. Draw a hole with a radius of 1 cm at a distance of 10 cm from the bottom.
2. Rotate the bottle 90 degrees and draw another hole with a radius of 2 cm, opposite the first one.
3. The same process must be repeated at a distance of 5 cm from the bottom.
4. Then carefully cut out all the drawn holes with a knife.
5. Now you can insert spoons.
6. To hang the bottle, you need to fasten a screw or screw to the bottle cap and hang it on a rope.
7. Finally, you can fill your tank with bird food.
Do-it-yourself seedling dispenser from a plastic bottle
This is a real garden that moisturizes itself, and you need to make a minimum of effort. In addition, crafts of such pots diversify children and fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are always needed in the kitchen.
You will need:
- Marker.
- Sturdy 1 liter plastic bottles with caps.
- Scissors.
- Label remover (e.g. vegetable oil).
- The soil.
- Saplings (they can be purchased in the vegetable departments of supermarkets).
1. Mark a line 12 cm from the bottom of the bottle.
2. First, pierce a hole on the marked line with a knife, and then cut the bottle in a circle with scissors.
3. Remove labels with vegetable oil.
4. Insert the top of the bottle with the cap into the bottom base.
5. Fill the top with soil.
6. Fix the seedling by gently pressing it down with soil.
7. Add water to the bottom of the bottle so that the water covers the cap.
8. After that, some water will be absorbed by the soil and you need to add water, following the instructions for a particular plant.
Craft a pencil case from a plastic bottle
Unnecessary plastic bottles can fit into the right and convenient pencil case. The proposed thing can be improved, it all depends on your imagination.
You will need:
- Empty, washed and dried plastic bottles (in this case 6 pieces).
- Scissors.
- Old newspapers.
- Paint in bolognese.
- Paperclips.
- Glue (it is necessary that it glues the plastic well, but does not corrode it).
1. Lay the bottle on its side and carefully insert the knife blade at the base. Cut along the bottom edge.
2. Repeat the procedure with the rest of the bottles.
3. Place all received products on the old newspaper with the bottom up.
4. Spray the paint on the outside of the products in several layers.
5. After the bottles are dry, it's time to line the edges of the cut with felt. The felt strips should be slightly longer than the circumference of the bottle. Glue the material evenly and carefully to each section of the bottle.
6. Wait 15-20 minutes for the glue to dry. It is better not to touch the extra, remaining felt for now.
7. Secure the felt with paper clips for a better bond. Wait another hour and then cut off the rest.
8. Decide where exactly the whole structure will stand, and glue all the bottles together from the side of the felt along the edges with glue. For a good strength of the entire pencil case, do not spare glue.
9. The glue must dry completely. You can fill your pencil case. Everything is ready!
Crafts from caps from plastic bottles for the garden
Sealed bag
1. Trim the thread on the neck of the bottle.
2. Install plastic bag through the neck and screw on the lid.
This seals the bag, which contributes to the long-term storage of products.
Original curtains from covers
Like these ones original curtains as interior doors can decorate a house, cottage or apartment.
Just connect the caps from plastic bottles together with fishing line or thread. At the same time, the curtain pattern can be limited only by your imagination.
DIY paintings from covers
Plastic bottle caps can even work for fine art.
Try to make such a picture, because even children can do it.
You will need:
- Canvas (any size desired).
- Plastic bottle caps.
- Paint (acrylic) and brush.
- Pencil.
- Ruler.
- Glue (not fast drying).
- Assortment of jewelry, balls, mosaics or buttons.
1. Using a pencil and ruler, mark sections on the canvas.
2. Glue one large plastic cover in the center of each section. Next, you can glue the covers different sizes and forms first.
3. Paint the entire canvas with black paint and let dry.
4. Glue an assortment of jewelry in the center of each lid and let dry.
5. Now the sections can be colored as you like.
How to make plastic bottle toys
DIY snake toys
Make funny snakes out of foam by creating a simple device at home!
You will need:
- Scissors.
- Plastic water bottles.
- Old towels.
- Rubber strip.
- Small bowl.
- Dishwashing liquid.
1. Cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle.
2. Secure the towel to the bottom of the bottle with a rubber band.
3. Dip the bottle, towel-side down, into the bowl of soapy water. After that, you can create snakes from tiny bubbles.
Important! Care must be taken to prevent soapy liquid from entering the mouth and eyes.
DIY crocodile toy
You will need:
- Two half liter plastic bottles.
- Bottle caps.
- Scissors.
- Glue.
- Thin paper.
- Tassel.
- Waxed paper.
- Eyes (for example, buttons can be used).
1. Using a knife and scissors, cut the bottles in half, then cut one piece so that the height remains 7 cm.
2. Trim the edges of the bottles so that the crocodile is bent.
3. Glue the legs-lids to the crocodile evenly.
4. Make thick balls of paper and attach them like crocodile eyes.
5. Cover the entire body with thin green paper.
6. Cut out waxed paper and glue on paws, eyes and teeth. Paint your teeth in White color and the nostrils and eyes are black.
Instructions: a vase from a plastic bottle
1. For convenience, cut the bottle on the upper contour.
2. Measure and evenly cut strips around the bottle. It is more convenient to do this by cutting wider segments in half.
3. Gently press and fold all strips outwards.
4. Press down on the bottle, placing it upside down on a flat surface. This will help even out the edges.
5. Fold the end of each strip under the next two. Do this so that the tip of each strip is in the place indicated in the photo.
You can add balls and stones to produce beautiful game light in the sun. Since the vase will be very light, the weight can contribute to proper balancing.
A warning! Such a vase will be subject to large temperature changes. Therefore, do not leave it near heating units in order to prevent thin strips from spreading.
Large lamp in the garden from a plastic bottle
The bottle is used as a light source. Such an invention is capable of making a lamp with a large illuminated space from a small lantern.
How Alternative option you can use a bleach solution in a bottle for the best light diffusion.
Universal spoon from a plastic bottle
Here is such a simple, but at the same time, sometimes very necessary spoon (for example, at a picnic) can be cut out of an empty plastic bottle.
Making food containers from plastic bottles
The idea is to use two plastic bottles to make a storage container for food like beans, rice, noodles and sugar.
Just cut out bottles of different sizes: the long one will be the base, and the short one will be the lid. Choose a size so that the lid closes easily and at the same time tightly.
Watering from plastic bottles
If you have a large garden, but do not have time for watering and do not want to spend money on newfangled expensive structures, then we present a simple idea sprinkler.
Once the famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl made a balsa wood raft, on which he successfully traveled the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Balsa is a very light wood that does not absorb water. If you look around, you can find a substitute for this wonderful wood, these are ordinary plastic bottles, it is possible to build an aphid boat from them, a simplified version, a raft, and use such unusual boats for fishing or recreation.
Many foreigners notice that Russians are very fond of crafting with their own hands, and making such a boat or raft is cool, cheap, it’s enough that all materials are available, the design is simple.
A boat made of plastic bottles was first built not in our country, but in some Asian country, but the idea is good and therefore they are trying to repeat it again and again.
Necessary materials
In order to make this craft with your own hands, you will need the following materials:
- Bottles - your task is to make the boat rigid enough. It would seem than bigger size take plastic bottles, the less they will be needed and the assembly will go faster, it is more logical to use five-liter containers. This is true, but you will need to make the boat stiff enough, and to achieve this effect it will be better to build it from smaller bottles. It seems to me that bottles of one and a half or two liters are better suited.
- Water repellent adhesive.
- Scotch.
- Plywood.
- Wire.
- Plastic sticks or wooden planks.
Preparatory stage
Take an empty bottle, close it and squeeze it, you will feel that it is quite soft and fragile. To give strength to the bottle, it is balloon must be inflated with pressurized air. This can be done with a compressor for pumping car cylinders.
Then the bottle must be firmly closed with a lid, after lubricating it with waterproof glue for plastic.
Instead of a compressor, you can use an easier way. If you have a cold pit in your garage, then place the bottles in it for several hours so that the air in them cools down. When you take it out immediately close the lids, after a while the air will heat up and the pressure in the bottle will increase.
Only clean bottles are suitable for work, any dirt or labels will interfere with the gluing process.
Initially, decide on the size of the boat, the number of bottles that you will have to collect in advance will depend on this, because you will not find such a quantity right away. A small boat from plastic bottles can be built from 300 pieces, the Chinese used 1500 for their construction.
Since the use of a compressor and toxic glue is necessary, it is necessary to build a boat in the fresh air, on suburban area or in the garage.
Manufacturing methods
There are a lot of ways to make a boat with your own hands. The most important thing is that the structure can support your weight. The bottles are glued together with the same water-repellent glue, for example, liquid nails, and rewound with adhesive tape for strength.
1 way
Initially, logs are made from bottles, which are then interconnected, forming plastic platforms, and a boat or raft is assembled from these platforms.
Log making method
Ready-made tightly twisted bottles are connected by slots that are on the bottom of each bottle: for glue, groove into groove. On top of the connection, to give greater reliability, the cut off middle of another bottle is pulled. 
About the bottoms, it’s clear how to connect, but how to fix the bottle spouts? To do this, a part with a bottom is cut off from another empty bottle and put on, pre-lubricated with glue, on a spout with a screwed cap on the prepared bottle. And the operation of gluing the bottom of the bottles together is repeated. All joints are wrapped with tape or glued. This is how a log of the required length is assembled. 
Platform
The logs are tightly fastened to each other with wire, wrapped with adhesive tape and a platform is obtained, like a catamaran. There are two such platforms. There will be 8-10 bottle logs in one platform. Between themselves, the platforms are fastened with plastic tubes and it is already possible to put a plywood bottom on them.
2 way
This option does not involve the manufacture of longitudinal logs, but are glued together by the side walls of the bottles, forming transverse segments. The width of such a plate depends on the width of the intended boat. Then these transverse plates are connected with the same glue to each other. 
The transverse plates are glued together only after the glue has dried in each layer.
3 way
Glue the bottles with each other "standing", spouts up. From above, on the second floor, the sides are being completed. 
Of course, not many people dare to make a full-fledged boat for fishing, but to assemble a small raft on which it is very convenient to get to hard-to-reach places under the branches of trees is quite real and fast. Watch the video for another simple assembly option:
Boat repair with plastic bottles
In addition to building an unusual vehicle on water, using plastic bottles is possible.
To do this, an incision is made in each compartment, such that the bottle crawls through and empty bottles are carefully pushed into the compartments, very tightly.
If you start from the nasal compartment, then push the first row with the throat forward, the next - with the bottom forward, the next with the neck again, so a more compact and dense filling of the entire cavity is obtained. 
It is necessary to push as tightly as possible, as soon as the design of the boat allows. Since neither glue nor tape can be connected inside the side of the bottle, you will have to fasten everything with mounting foam.
At the junctions of the rows, a puncture is made in the board and each row is foamed with mounting foam.
Large slots in the compartments for bottles after filling must be sewn up and then sealed with a rubber patch. It is clear that with such constructive solution the tightness of the boat will be broken, but now the air will be firmly bottled.
folk omen: If you dreamed of a boat and you are in it, this is for well-being.