that are lightweight and weather resistant. So in this project let's turn a couple of

empty soda bottles, into compact, lightweight, and waterproof, soda cap containers.

Let's start this project with a hotel key, and a couple of plastic soda bottles. The

first thing we need to do is cut the tops off, and if we turn them upside down and clamp

them in a bench vise, it should be incredibly easy. Now if we use something like a hacksaw,

we can use the bottom side of the flange as a cutting guide, and the goal here is to make

the cut as clean as possible. When we're through to the other side, let's double check the

flange to make sure it's completely flat, and if there are any ridges, we can easily

shave them down with the saw blade. Now we're gonna need a second cap, and this time

I'm using a bottle with a black lid just for a little variety. This should allow us to

color code the two ends of our container. Now depending on your purpose, it could be

extremely important that the lids sit perfectly together. And to make sure that happens, let's

go ahead and sand the bottoms with something like 150 grit sandpaper, until they're perfectly

flat. They don't have to be smooth though. In-fact, the rougher they are, they better

they're gonna bond with an epoxy. While we're here it's a good idea to roughen both

sides of our hotel key as well, so let's go ahead and do that, then carefully trace around

one of the caps with a marker. As we cut it out, you can see we'll end up with a plastic

disc the exact same size as the caps, and this will become the divider that splits our

container into two separate compartments. Now to make this as strong and lightweight

as possible, let's try bonding it with a 2 part epoxy. This will need to be blended thoroughly

for about a minute to make sure it sets up properly. Now, without wasting too much time,

let's apply a liberal amount of epoxy to the base of the caps, then carefully set the round

divider on top, and press it into place. If you already have epoxy on the other cap, just

join it to the other side of the divider, and simply leave it to harden. In about 2

hours, your container will be firm enough to handle, and a few hours after that, it

should be fully ready to use. Now for an even stronger bond, try clamping both caps so they

set together under pressure. If you don't have a bench vise or a set of bar clamps,

try using a rubber band to keep things tight until the epoxy hardens. You can see here

how the epoxy at the bottom has completely sealed everything off. That means this container

will hold two different items, and keep them completely separate. Now I added some special

ingredients to mine and tucked it away in one of our first-aid kits to help out in emergency

situations. This will give us the power to ignite a survival fire, without ever having

to strike a match. Look for how this works in the matchless survival fire project.

I also tried another variation and found the simplest container could be made with 2 caps

and some hot glue. It won't be as strong, but you can make them start to finish in under

3 minutes. This version is still super lightweight, water resistant, and will work really well

for storing things like pills or small candies. You can see it's hollow all the way through,

so the contents can be accessed from either end. This works well to protect your matches

from the elements, or even make improvised hide and seek containers for geocaching. If

the container ever does get wet, everything inside will be kept safe and dry. Now both

variations weigh only half an ounce, or about 14 grams, but they can they still hold up

to 10 ml of fluid, which is the same amount as both of these glass bottles put together.

By the way, if you epoxy the two bottles end to end, you'll have another variation that

still looks really cool, and will last for a really long time. Well now you know how

to turn two empty soda bottles, into lightweight, multipurpose containers, that don't really

cost anything to make, but will do a great job protecting your stuff. Well that's it

for now. If you liked this project, perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them

out at www.thekingofrandom.com