Dakine were established in 1979 in Hawaii by Rob Kaplan and started by designing surfing leashes. The word da kine means the kind or the best, which is reflected in the company's outlook and products.
Dakine went on to start producing foot straps harnesses to help surfers catch bigger waves and moved into bags & luggage pioneering the Dakine coffin board bag, which allowed athletes to carry boards and all their worldly belongings in.
After dominating these markets Dakine moved into the winter glove business for snowboarders and skiers. This success promoted them to move to the base of Mount Hood Mountain in Oregon so they could be closer to their core customers.
Dakine Skateboards
Once Dakine had the snowboard and surf industry dialed they made the natural progression to skateboarding where they concentrated on hardware. Dakines rapid growth didn't go unnoticed as it was recently bought by Billabong for an undisclosed sum to add to Billabongs ever growing group of board sports brands.
