National Defense

July 2004

Tech Talk
edited by Robert H. Williams

Soldiers and first responders soon will get the hook, literally. In this case, the hook is an Army Natick Soldier Center-designed device that will be used to scale walls and buildings and board boats.

This hook is soldier tough, said Jim Sadeck, who invented the compact device. It passed all Army requirements. He pointed out that when folded, it becomes a cube weighing less than 1.5 pounds. But when deployed, the hook can support up to 1,608 pounds.

Traditional grappling hooks generally are large, bulky and risky to use, because the breaking strength of the metal is largely unknown. To improve the safety of this useful equipment, engineers at Natick, a research facility in Massachusetts, developed super new, lightweight, high-strength materials that cut the weight and bulk by 50 percent over the standard grappling hook, an official said.

The small, retractable hooks will be produced by Capewell Components Inc., of South Windsor, Conn.

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