Duct Tape Kayak

After watching the Mythbusters episode on Duct Tape Myths, I decided to take a whack at creating my own duct tape boat. Rather than the two-man sailboat that Jamie and Adam designed, I went for a much slimmer one-man kayak. Only $20 of supplies and a day or two of work; this Kayak makes for a great weekend summer project!

Step 1: Materials

All that you need in the way of materials are some duct tape rolls, a little bit of wood glue, and wood for the frame. For the sake of simplicity and cheapness, I bought a good number of 3/16"x1-3/8"x8' cedar strips to make my frame. At about 90 cents apiece, they were the perfect option.

My materials list came out to this:

Three 55 yard rols of duct tape
8 cedar strips
1 bottle of gorilla wood glue

Altogether less than 20$.

Comments

[rimfire13]

Very cool I worked at a boy scout summer camp where we, the aquatics staff, built one of these. The only problem was launching without tipping, as without a flat bottom it is very difficult to keep stable until you are in it, and then it is still easy to fall out, very nice inststructable though.

[Hippymike96]

its a cool kayak, but could you make it with less wood?

[sbergheger]

nice kayak,would be interested in making one.but is there any mesurments on the cedar strips that you would be interested in shareing.......

[Canis--Ideais]

I'm thinking of building a sleeker touring modle of you design with PVC call it a brain fart but... A couple specs and a scale would be nice

[asarris]

make 2 of them and add a deck in the middle for a catamaran(i know i misspelled it) I tried it and it works beautifully.

[FrozenIce]

didnt the mythbusters make smthn similar? cool either way
:)

[meddler]

I wonder if you could have it sprayed with that rhino truck liner stuff??

[Al38]

Great Idea! But where did you find those cedar strips for 90 cents?

[cfickle]

Yeah omg! I just went to the most common hardware shop here and they were over $4 -$5!!

[ineverfinishanyth]

home depot of course! :)

[Karletto555]

so what are the results? Does it start to leak on first wave or... ?

[chicopluma]

the duct tape monster looks like piramid head from silent hill hahaha
but does it float on the water even with people in it, it doesn`t become a litle unstable?

[jelleAtProtospace]

nice& quick weekend project. As an improvement, you could cut out 3 frames to give it more canoe shape. Rounder bilges improves the carrying capacity, so you could actually use your canoe and post some pictures of that event here :)

[mman1506]

I'm going to buy parts tomorrow and build one, It looks awesome.
Just wondering how much does it weigh and how is it in the water?

[biggybilly]

Looks like fun! However, is Gorilla glue waterproof?

[bobthebanana]

yes, it is

[Gaspar123]

haha nice and interesting invention. cool kayak monster.. I want one too haha!!

[wolframdonat]

Great instructable. I think I might have to try this.
I must also say you have an awesome username.

[sistergldnhair]

this is awesome but doesit float ;)

[senacharim]

See: last photo.

[iectyx3c]

Awe-inspiring. Gets my vote.

[susanrm]

Ohmigosh. I love it. I may combine some of your kayak ideas with the other one on here. Finally, a boat solution for me!!!

[splazem]

This looks so amazing and sleek. I love the picture with the dog! I will definitely building one of these! Great work!

[Kiteman]

This looks really good, but we absolutively, positutely, need a photo of it in use.

[splazem]

I think you mixed up a couple of words there, Kiteman.

And in response to the Kayak itself, it looks great!

[Kiteman]

It's a line from an old parcel-delivery advert...

[Kaptain Kool]

THis kayak is wonderful and surprisingly elegant for anything duct tape!