Dakine - How its all started back in 1979

About to drop in with a Dakine Heli Pro Pack

Founded in Hawaii in 1979 and located at the base of Mt. Hood in Hood River, Oregon, Dakine builds backpacks, travel bags, accessories, Ski Jackets for people who love to surf, snowboard, ski, kitesurf and travel.

Dakine got its start on Maui’s North Shore in 1979. Rob Kaplan was a surfer first, but he was also a tinkerer who loved building stuff.

Out with the Dakine Mission backpack

Word got out, and soon fellow surfers began turning to him with their gear problems—most often busted surf leashes. After repairing enough leashes, he set out to make a new leash with the kind of bombproof materials and stitching only someone who’s lost a board to the rocks would know how to make.


By 1986, windsurfing’s centre of gravity had shifted to Hood River, Oregon. While Dakine would keep a presence on Maui, its headquarters moved to the mainland. Hood River also sat at the base of Mount Hood, where snowboarders and skiers from all over the world trained in the summer.

Now, not only were they talking to some of the world’s best surfers and windsurfers, but they also had world-class snowboarders and skiers coming in and out of the office too.
It was one of those snowboarders that led us to the first Dakine Heli Pack.
He had come off the mountain and wandered into Dakine with a request: He needed an essentials-only pack for his Heli trips to Alaska.
Dakine created a custom pack that had everything he wanted and nothing more. That favour for a friend eventually turned into one of our most iconic products ever.

Dakine sells backpacks, clothing, outerwear, luggage, and accessories for men, women, and children.
www.s2as.com