The Ultimate Kit Guide

Kit Complexity: 4

(1=Easy, 5=Difficult) Is the kit easy, moderate, or challenging to build for its most likely target audience? Kits clearly aimed at children would, for example, be rated differently from microcontroller kits.

H3125 Ukulele

H3125 Ukulele

Make Kit Reviews

H3125 Ukulele

$25.50

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Reviewed: November 1st, 2011

Aspiring luthiers will find this a satisfying first project, with its pre-assembled mahogany body and ready-to-attach neck; you’re left with the satisfying jobs of final assembly and finishing. The woods are nice despite the low price — the plywood fretboard being the only weak piece — and if you build it as instructed, you’ll end […]

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Pygmy Coho Kayak

Pygmy Coho Kayak

Make Kit Reviews

Pygmy Coho Kayak

$995

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Using the book Kayaks You Can Build by Ted Moores and Greg Rossel, I built my first Coho, a stitch-and-glue plywood sea kayak. I considered kits from Redfish, Chesapeake Light Craft, Waters Dancing, and One Ocean, but I settled on Pygmy because other builders touted how accurate their CNC router-cut parts are. Plus I had seen a […]

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Minima Vest

Minima Vest

Make Kit Reviews

Minima Vest

$53 and up

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Though making your own technical outdoor gear may seem out of reach, all it takes is a good pattern, solid instructions, techie fabrics, and some sewing skill. Thru-Hiker puts the pieces in your hands; you add the skill and patience. This vest kit is a good one to tackle for starters, and includes a toasty layer of Primaloft, […]

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Surfboard Shaping Starter Kit

Surfboard Shaping Starter Kit

Make Kit Reviews

Surfboard Shaping Starter Kit

$365 and up

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Reviewed: October 27th, 2011

Traditional surfboards are fragile, plus they’re made of toxic goo — polyurethane foam and polyester resin — that ends up as landfill. This deluxe starter kit has all the tools and materials you need to make a tougher, greener epoxy board using expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam that’s recyclable. And Greenlight’s lamination technique, using bamboo fabric […]

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