7 Great Outdoor Projects from Make

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We’re hosting an outdoor summer sports theme week at Make:, but we’ve been having fun and making things outdoors for a long time. Here are some of our all-time favorite summer sports projects.

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Simple Longboard

This easy-to-build board has been one of our most popular projects. It’s a good project to experiment with size and shape, and it’s also got a ton of real estate for creative artwork.

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Pedal Power Phone Charger

You charge your phone in your car all the time — so why not your bike? Especially on long rides, and especially if you’re using battery-intensive apps like Strava, your phone can die in a hurry. Sometimes that’s no big deal, and sometimes you get a puncture and need to call a roommate to pick you up.

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Hippie Bike Panniers

There’s a good chance you’ve seen some variation of these buckets around. Some bike shops sell them, but they’re easy to make. The directions here are just a starting point; you can customize them by adding a bungee to keep them stable, a light to keep you safe, and there are many other options too.

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Soda Bottle Bike Exhaust

Harley Davidson no longer has a monopoly on loud pipes. This aluminum bottle setup uses the same mechanism as the old playing-card-in-the-spokes rig, but amplified. Make: is not responsible for noise violation fines.

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Quad Roller Skates

If you look closely, you’ll see that these use skateboard trucks and wheels as well — so hold on to those old components, and those old shoes.

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Greener Surfboard

What does it mean for a surfboard to be green? It’s not the color; it’s the epoxy and the EPS. You can build your own through a kit, with our helpful instructions.

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Wood Gas Camp Stove

This stove actually recirculates smoke as fuel in the gasification process, making it great not only for camping but for efficiency and the environment.

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It is high summer, and this week we are celebrating with five days of outdoor sports-themed articles, pictures, videos, reviews and projects. We’ll be here all week, so check back often and get out there.

Our next theme week will be wearable electronics. Send us your tips or contributions before it gets here by dropping a line to editor@makezine.com.
Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
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Nathan Hurst is an editor at Make. He loves anything having to do with science or bicycling. He tweets as @nathanbhurst.

View more articles by Nathan Hurst

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