REVIEW: Klepper Commando - 1: The Boat

Quietly and silently a boat breaks through the fog, two men on board maneuver it close to the shore from cover to cover. The man at the back paddles almost silently, his comrade at the front secures the mission with the MK46 at the ready. - This could be a mission, but this time it's a photo shoot with Tom Weber from MILpictures, who has given us at SPARTANAT the opportunity to sit in the boat dressed as SEALs, so to speak as supporting actors. Because the main role is played by the boat. It is a folding boat from the company Klepper from the Commando program, offered to the military. The civilian version closest to this is the Aerius Quattro XT Two "Plus" 545 Command II.

"Folding boat" sounds quite fragile. That's deceptive, because the Commando is an extremely robust boat that must withstand the rigors of any mission. The finished kayak impresses with its streamlined body. One can hardly believe that behind the solid construction lies what can be seen in the image above: Here, the outer skin and individual parts of the skeleton are laid out for assembly. No, the team that operates this boat doesn't need tools to assemble it. Very innovative snap and snap locks allow everyone to – after practicing twice - to have the boat ready for use in ten minutes. In the second part of the review, we will show you how to assemble the boat.

The seats are as comfortable as they look. The crew's legs are stretched out while sitting or crossed in a lotus position (if they are small). The military folding boat allows for the silent movement of one or two persons with all supplies, equipment, and weapons. It carries a load of 450 kilograms. The boat can be used on rivers and lakes, but is also suitable for saltwater, can operate at sea ("Off-Shore"). With the folding boat, which is 5.2 meters long and 0.87 meters wide, you can cover 50 kilometers. Paddlers will be pleased that they can do this at speeds of up to 8 km/h.

Now the spray deck is installed, preventing splash water from entering while paddling. Concealed between the two crew seats, under a camouflage net, are two three-day packs, one of which contains a radio. The Woodland canopy is impregnated. The hull is made of natural rubber Hypalon.

CONCLUSION: It was love at first paddle stroke. Perhaps this is not the right way to begin the conclusion of a test report on a military folding boat, but it is hard to express how impressed we were with the Klepper Falkajak from the Commando program. It starts with the ride: the boat lies long and low in the water, and as soon as you start paddling, it becomes a speedboat, swiftly crossing the water, yet almost effortless to move (well, almost). Quiet, agile, minimal yet comfortable - a fascinating boat for covert landings, river patrols, fast crossings, hiding in reeds. The possibilities are varied. And even in real operations, it must be quite an experience to ride a Klepper folding boat. The civilian fun is not left behind: with this folding boat, you can wonderfully go river trekking. Technically, it is a masterpiece, albeit also in terms of price.

The company Klepper is considered the world market leader in folding boat construction. Here is their website, the military program is not available for civilian sale. Boats similar to the Klepper Commando are available at The Outback.