Folding kayak - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...

made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin made of a tough fabric with a waterproof coating. Many have integral air chambers inside the hull, making them virtually unsinkable.

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

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

and took out a patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

on the design, called the Delphin (German: Dolphin), the following year. The Delphin had a bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

frame with a sailcloth

Sailcloth

Sails have been made from cloth for all of recorded history. Typically sails were made from flax , hemp or cotton in various forms including canvas. However, modern sails are rarely made from natural fibers. Most sails are made from synthetic fibers ranging from low-cost nylon or polyester to...

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

Rosenheim

Rosenheim is a town in Bavaria at the confluence of the rivers Inn and Mangfall. It is seat of administration of the district of Rosenheim, but is not a part of it.-Geography:...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. 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

Oskar Speck

Oskar Speck was a German canoeist who paddled by folding kayak from Germany to Australia over the period 1932-1939. A Hamburg electrical contractor made unemployed during the Weimar-period Depression, he left Germany to seek work in the Cypriot copper mines, departing from Ulm and travelling south...

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 ( these were designated by the military as canoes and they were given a codename.. 'Cockle' ). In reality they were kayaks. These ranged from the Mk 1 early folbot' type to the four man alloy; most were 'collapsible'. Most interestingly was the Mk 2 which collapsed but along its 15 ft length... to just c. 7 inches This mk 2 and its three man Mk 2** were of the same design and by the same man Mr Fred Goatley.

Walter Hohn developed and built the first Swiss folboats in 1924 where they were tested in white water conditions. He introduced them to Australia when he emigrated with 2 examples; a 1-man and a 2-man in 1928, patenting his design (Aust. Patent 117,779) and initially producing them for sports use. During the Pacific war he and Hedley's P.L. built a total of 1024 for the army. 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

Hannes Lindemann

Hannes Lindemann is a German doctor, navigator and sailor. He made two solo transatlantic crossings, one in a sailing dugout canoe made while working in Liberia and the second in a seventeen-foot Klepper Aerius II double folding kayak, modified to carry two masts and an outrigger. His book Alone...

crossed the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

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

Special forces

Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...

. Nautiraid of France produces a special model for military use, as do Klepper and Long Haul, who supply German and US Special Forces

United States Special Operations Forces

United States Special Operations Forces under United States Special Operations Command are active and reserve component forces of U.S. Military...

, 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, Pakboats, TRAK Kayaks, Triton advanced, Long Haul, Nautiraid and Pouch. Long Haul double kayak hulls are identical in form to Kleppers, so a Klepper Aerius II frame can be used with a Long Haul MK-II skin, and vice versa.

Design

Most folding kayaks have very similar construction, even though the materials may differ. Some boats use frames made of mountain ash, spruce

Spruce

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

and marine plywood, while others use aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

tubing and various plastics, and a few newer boats such as Fujita and Firstlight and Klepper use carbon fiber

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer or carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic , is a very strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer which contains carbon fibers. The polymer is most often epoxy, but other polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes used...

or glass-reinforced plastic

Glass-reinforced plastic

Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....

tubing. Typically there are solid bow and stern pieces, and anywhere from three to seven ribs connected via some sort of flexible attachment to a number of longeron

Longeron

In aircraft construction, a longeron or stringer or stiffener is a thin strip of wood, metal or carbon fiber, to which the skin of the aircraft is fastened. In the fuselage, longerons are attached to formers and run the longitudinal direction of the aircraft...

s. Many boats follow the basic design pioneered by Klepper in having a folding set of floorboards and gunwale

Gunwale

The gunwale is a nautical term describing the top edge of the side of a boat.Wale is the same word as the skin injury, a wheal, which, too, forms a ridge. Originally the gunwale was the "Gun ridge" on a sailing warship. This represented the strengthening wale or structural band added to the design...

s as well as additional longerons to add stiffness and shape. Many foldings also use air sponson

Sponson

Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...

s (up to four in the Klepper Quattro) to tighten the skin on the frame, adding stability, the ability to paddle in very shallow waters and security.

Most folding boats have two-part skins, with different materials used for the deck and the hull. Decks can be made of a breathable cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

/hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

blend, as Klepper has done since their early days, or of coated synthetics, as TRAK, Feathercraft, Folbot, Nautiraid and Pouch do. Each approach has its own particular benefits and drawbacks; all work well in practice. Hulls are generally made of a heavily coated synthetic fiber

Synthetic fiber

Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...

. In the early days, rubber coated cotton canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

was used, while the modern boats use a synthetic elastomer

Elastomer

An elastomer is a polymer with the property of viscoelasticity , generally having notably low Young's modulus and high yield strain compared with other materials. The term, which is derived from elastic polymer, is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, although the latter is preferred...

—Hypalon

Hypalon

Hypalon is a trademark for chlorosulfonated polyethylene synthetic rubber noted for its resistance to chemicals, temperature extremes, and ultraviolet light. It was a product of DuPont Performance Elastomers, a subsidiary of DuPont....

, polyurethane

Polyurethane

A polyurethane is any polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by carbamate links. Polyurethane polymers are formed through step-growth polymerization, by reacting a monomer with another monomer in the presence of a catalyst.Polyurethanes are...

or PVC

Polyvinyl chloride

Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...

—over a synthetic (typically Dacron) cloth. The tension on the hull is what gives certain folding kayaks performance advantages over others. TRAK's design has including a hydraulic system to apply tension to the hull to address performance.

Assembly time and mechanisms or designs vary by manufacturer and model. Recent design innovations come from the likes of TRAK, Folbot and Klepper. Assembly times can be as little as 8–10 minutes or can reach upwards of 40–45 minutes with more complex designs. Complexity of assembly is sometimes due to smaller cockpit openings and narrow efficient designs that lead to speeds equivalent to hardshells. Disassembly is typically half the assembly time.

The stability and design robustness of several folding kayak models makes them ideal for upwind and downwind sailing. Dr. Hannes Lindemann

Hannes Lindemann

's Atlantic crossing was in most part achieved by sailing.

Performance

Folders are known for their durability, stability, and longevity: The Klepper Aerius I (a single-seater) has been used successfully for white-water kayaking (before the era of modern polyethylene boats), due to its durability and excellent manoeuvrability, while many Kleppers have been in frequent use for more than 25 years. It is not rare to see on water some Klepper folding kayaks that date as far back as 1930's and 1940s.

Although some hardshell kayakers are critical of folding boats and do not regard them as true kayaks, they exhibit many of the same paddling characteristics as the original skin-and-frame vessels of the circumpolar north. Some folding kayaks, like the Feathercraft Khatsolano and the TRAK T-1600, are equal in performance to the fastest hardshell kayaks. Other than contemporary replicas of Inuit

Inuit

, Aleut, and Eskimo

Eskimo

Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....

kayak

Kayak

s and baidarka

Baidarka

Baidarka is the Russian name used for Aleutian style sea kayak. The ancient Unangan name is Iqyax. The word has its origins from early Russian settlers in Alaska. Iqya-x builders who kept the tradition of building skin-on-skeleton boats alive in the 20th century include Sergie Sovoroff.A prominent...

s, they are the closest relatives to the skin-and-frame boats of the past. The TRAK boat goes a step further, allowing the kayaker to adjust the shape of the hull with its hydraulic system for varying conditions on the water.

Paddling efficiency: In a hardshell kayak, waves and chop on the water can slow down the momentum of the craft (pushing the kayak back). The membraned skin on folding kayaks help the kayak absorb the energy of waves and current, which aids in the compulsion of the boat through rough conditions. Some paddlers find skin-on-frame kayaks to be very efficient paddling rougher waters.

Notable owners

The folding kayak that used to belong to pope John Paul II has been on display at the Archdiocesan Museum in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, Poland since 2003. When already a cardinal, the future pope shared the ownership of "The Pebble" with a student friend of his, who later donated it to the museum.

External links

FoldingKayaks.org (from which some of the text above was adapted, with permission)
TRAK Performance Folding Kayaks in Canada
Folding Kayak Builders Manual from Yostwerks, details on building a folding kayak.
The smallest liner of the world Pouch RZ85

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Design

Performance

Notable owners

See also

External links