Folding Kayak - History

History

The first workable folding kayak was built by Alfred Heurich in 1905, a German architectural student. Heurich paddled his creation on the Isar River near Munich and took out a patent on the design, called the Delphin (German: Dolphin), the following year. The Delphin had a bamboo frame with a sailcloth hull stretched over it. It could be folded up and carried in three bags, each weighing less than 4.5 kg (9.9 lb).

The folding kayak was made commercially successful by Johannes Klepper, whose factory was at Rosenheim, Germany. Klepper kayaks were very popular for their compact size and ease of transport. Klepper's Faltboot was introduced in 1906, many years before hardshell boats were commercially produced. Oskar Speck undertook his seven-year journey from Germany to Australia in the 1930s using folding kayaks made and sponsored by another manufacturer, Pionier-Faltboot-Werft.

During the Second World War the special forces of the day, COPPS, RMBPD etc. had developed for them about a dozen state of the art "canoes" which were given the codename. 'Cockle'. (Kayaks in Europe were historically referred to as "canoes"; what most people think of as canoes were referred to as "Canadian Canoes".) These Cockles ranged from the Mk 1 early frame-and fabric 'folbot' type to the four man boats made of aluminum alloy; most were 'collapsible' rather than being boats that could be completely disassembled, as with modern day folding boats. The Mk 2 could be collapsed but along its 15 ft length... to just c. 7 inches This mk 2 and its three man Mk 2** were all of the same design and were designed by the same man- a Mr Fred Goatley.

Walter Hohn developed and built the first Swiss folding boats, which were tested in white water conditions, in 1924. Hohn emigrated to Australia in 1928, bring two examples of his boat designs with him: A 1-man and a 2-man design. His boats were patented (Aust. Patent 117,779) and initially produced for sport use. During the Pacific war, Hohn and Hedley's P.L. built a total of 1024 folding boats for the Australian military. Hohn supplied 2 folboats for the highly secret 'Operation Jaywick' training at Camp-X near Sydney in 1942. Hohn's first military model 'Folboat Kayak Type' was succeeded by the 3-seater MKIII of 17 ft. length, which became the longest running Australian built folboat to be used during the Pacific War.

Hohn's first army folboats were tested at the ZES commando base in Cairns Queensland by commandos under the direction of Major Ivan Lyon for preparation of the 'Operation Jaywick' raid. They included Capt. Sam Carey, Robert Page and Albert Sargent. They were also used for training and actual use in 'Operation Rimau'. At least 33 raids, reconnaissance patrols and rescue missions in the Pacific Islands, notably RIMAU, COPPER and PYTHON used these folboats.

The Klepper Aerius II model was introduced in 1951 and is still in production. In 1956, Dr. Hannes Lindemann crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an Aerius II, proof of the folding kayak's integrity and seaworthiness. Their light weight and non-metallic construction has made them the choice of many military special forces. Nautiraid of France produces a special model for military use, as do Klepper and Long Haul, who supply German and US Special Forces, respectively. The newest design innovation has come from Canada's TRAK Kayaks, who in 2007 have come out with a polyurethane skin over aluminum frame design with hydraulics in the cockpit to make the skin extremely taut and also to change the shape of the hull for varying paddling conditions.

There are about ten major folding kayak manufacturers today, and a handful of small, one-off makers. In addition to Klepper the best-known brands are Feathercraft, Folbot, Triton advanced, Long Haul, Nautiraid, Packboats, Pouch and TRAK. Long Haul double kayak hulls are identical in form to Kleppers (as well as a good many older boats), so a Klepper Aerius II frame can be used with a Long Haul MK-II skin, and vice versa.