Kayak
 

Just curious if anybody here was involved in the development of the kayak manual. Would have been in the mid 70's.

Before my time, but we lived it on the MAROPS team in A 1/10 circa 1995-1997. though I've never seen a sail for a Klepper in real life.

We were joking a couple of weeks ago about a former BN CDR who wanted us to mount M249 SAWS on the snowmobiles and tow a Mortar sled with a Mortar system complete and ready to rock n roll. I can only imagine what he'd want me to mount on my Klepper. Probably Claymores and a Bangalore on the front like the CSS Hunley.

My youngest brother was the XO for the team did the early experimental work. He wrote large portions of the first manual.

The original training film.;)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049083/

I remember someone mentioning sails for them but never saw anyone try it. Bet capsize drills were a bitch with them.

I don't remember sails, but...
 

To use a sail they'd need to have some sort of keel. what is used in that respect is a box kite. Get the kite aloft and it'll drag you along.

Used kayaks in the mid 70s at Devens but never saw a manual or a sail/kite.

We just paddled our asses down the Arno and Po rivers in Italy or tried to drown out between the cape and Marth'a Vineyard. :munchin :D

Some were hard palstic and the others were a collapsable cloth/canvas and rubber affair on a wooden frame. Taxing my memory here. :)

Your description sounds about right. Bunch of different kayaks were tested including folboats.

It would have been about 1974 or 75 or 76. Lt. Stuart Collier from Alabama. Knowing the Army, the manual would have been draft for a long time. It was an Insertion and Infiltration by Kayak manual as I understand it.

In mid '80s, I never saw a plastic one. We had the canvass Kleppers with the wooden ribs. We did take them out in the ocean a few times. A few of us almost got clobbered when we loaded on a landing craft in medium swells during MAROPS at Va. Beach.

kayak
 

We're using kayaks made in Colorado now, half the price of Klepper with the little glitches gone or improved with materials and design. SFUWO is teaching/using the same.

It's the Long Haul Commando built by Mark Eckert. Those of you who appreciate them owe ME (and a couple of other guys :p) a lot of beer. The rest of you can go back to playing with RB-7s and the "also rans" e.g. FOLBOTs and Klepper Arieus IIs. Mark is good people; as long as you maintain the kayaks and keep in contact with him, you guys will be using them forever. (Or until the "powers that be" decide eight years of desert ops means we don't need MAROPs any more :(. P.S. - When that happens, let me know so I can be waiting at DRMO when you turn them in!)

You said kayak and RB7 in the same breath! You should be Hoss whipped!!! :D

RB7 is the true FLRB. :munchin

Roger that - as in "F'ed up LRB"! :p The only thing they were ever good for was dogging pre-SCUBA students for PT. (And locking out of Diesel Subs - another less than brilliant idea if I do say so myself.) If I'm forced to motivate with paddles, I'll take a kayak every time.

I visited the Long Haul web site. Those are some really nice boats. I wouldn't mind picking one up myself.

Went down to Alabama for a "reunion" with my brothers. Stuart had this picture of the ODA with their kayaks. In the picture from left to right.

Notice the high tech white water helmets!!!!