Seeing as we like Dakine so much here at S2AS and harp on about how great it is, we though why not have a look at the background to the company.Dakine had its humble beginnings from Rob Kaplan who designed the Dakine Leash, a surfing leash, back in 1979. Kaplan lived in Maui in Hawaii, and to the name Dakine from the Hawaiian Pidgen word “Da Kine” which has several meanings, one being “the kind”
The Dakine Leash was a big success, and by 1980 many professional windsurfers asked Kaplan to make foot straps for their new wave boards. Dakine also developed the first adjustable foot strap along with waist harnesses and seat harnesses some time later.
Dakine made the move towards snowboarding gear in the mid 1980s when it opened its facilities in Hood River, Oregon.
Being positioned at the base of Mt Hood, a very popular place for snowboard and ski camps meant optimum expose to the desired customers. A few years later and it began in earnest to manufacture and market Dakine snowboard bags, snowboarding accessories and other snowboarding gear.
Dakine continued to create extreme sports gear and accessories venturing into skateboarding during the 1990s with such products as the Park Pack. The Park Pack's innovation and durability proved to be a winning combination and has led to many other versions being made over the years.
In the early 2000s Dakine ventured into the Kiteboarding arena with kiteboard specific harnesses nd accessories. The Fusion harness quickly became Dakine’s best selling harness, surpassing all other harness variations.
Today Dakine are one of the world’s top manufacturers and sellers of extreme sports accessories. These include kitesurfing harnesses, snowboarding gloves, snowboard bags, surfboard bags and cases and much, much more besides.
Like we said at the beginning of this article, we love the range, choice and quality that Dakine have to offer and if you are looking for some Dakine gear, be it a Dakine bag or backpack, harness or whatever you need , then come and have a look at www.S2AS.com