People are very creative when they are confronted with spending a lot of money on an object they need or desire. Case in point: the DIY PVC kayak we are showcasing here. While a run to the store will leave you with over $500 short on a kayak, the DIY version will cost only $50! The genius who thought of this innovative design used 6″ or 8″ PVC pipes to make a working and useful kayak. Watch the video provided to witness how human creativity can result in a simple and inexpensive kayak. With $50 and a little time on your hands, you can make one for yourself. See the photos for reference and remember that the DIY community is always there to give you a helping hand or advice.
This is a poor story. One stick of 6″ pipe is over $40 bucks, each 6″ fitting is $20 plus! I’m guess it’s $250 or more to build plus it’s super heavy!!
Exactly my thought and Walmart has a Kayak for $150
Im thinking sewer pipe is alot cheaper, ive used it for other projects, and would probably work as well. I may try this but a different design.
Whether the pipe is used for sewer, even SDR 35, or otherwise, 6″ pvc is still a lot more expensive than $50 for this project.
The$50 price tag had me wondering, too.
It’s a canoe, not a kayak
It’s actually more of a catamarans, tho 2 bladed paddles are used on kayaks, single blades for canoes.
Basically it’s a pontoon boat. Larger PVC can get expensive but if you want to go larger then you can always get some 4×8 sheet metal and make your own pontoons?
More like a catamaran.
The front cross piece doesn’t need to be as big as it is and just adds extra weight. Even more importantly though, having his feet in the water adds a lot of drag to the design that would just slow down the craft and make it harder to paddle.
It is also important to realize that a 10′ stick of 6″ PVC has 122 lbs. of buoyancy minus 36 lbs of material weight, so an adult would likely need 3 or more sticks to make a reasonable craft. Best if your weight is about 60% of the boats ultimate bouyancy. That’s $120 plus fittings which is reasonably inexpensive for a solo kayak, but at over 100 lbs, it is a really, really heavy solo boat. Usually 50 lbs or less.
OK, I will definitely agree that this beast will be heavy and expensive but it sure has one great feature that no yak has. In super shallow water, you can “Anchor simply by dropping your feet. Lets brainstorm together here and come up with a way to make a super fishing boat that won’t break the bank. I have many years of kayak fishing experience and have caught many Tarpon up to 150# from yaks. I’ve often yearned for something a little wider and lots more stable for safe standing. At my age, 78, standing gets more problematic each year. Entry and exit is more difficult and weight of the boat is a huge factor too. Consider PVC 2xr’s for a frame and some sort of high density foam for pontoons. Possible use epoxy/graphite on the bottom surface for tear resistance. Cost should be less of a factor than functionality. Other than serious elcheapos, it is darn hard to find a yak for under $1000.