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by Travis Davies February 22, 2019 2 min read

Slyde Handboards is beyond stoked to announce our exclusive fin collaboration with DaFins.

The positive feedback on the Slyde X DaFin design and colorway has been amazing, and we couldn't wait to share with you more details on the evolution of this epic collaboration.

How the DaFin collaboration come about 

I got my first pair of Dafins from a Lifeguard friend in Huntington Beach in 2010. 
We were having a discussion on best surf fins and at the time, as I was having difficulty finding fins that were above all else comfortable and portable. It was really important to me to be able to have fins whenever I traveled, without having to take extra luggage.  The comfort for obvious reason was also top of mind. 

He handed me a pair of the lifeguard red and yellow Dafins and said give these a try. It's fair to say I haven’t looked back since, they are super comfortable have the perfect amount of thrust. 

On my last trip back to South Africa, all I took was carry-on luggage was a prototype pair of the Slyde x Dafins and a Bulaboard. I mean who needs clothes?

Needless to say Slyde has been selling Dafins almost exclusively for 8 years now, and it has always been top of our list to do a collaboration. It wasn’t until we all got together at the Surf Expo in Florida last January, that the collaboration was born over a 10 minute conversation and the rest is history. 

The Design Inspiration behind the Slyde x Dafins:

The 2 stripes actually have a lot of meaning for me personally. Slyde is a company that grew out of my love for travel. Our logo is my take on a turn off sign that lay on the roads in South Africa where I grew up surfing. Those signs always meant good surf.

Also along the N2 highway, known as the Garden route, were these sign posts that had 1, 2 or 3 bars on them that would indicate how close you were to the turnoff. A lot of turn offs are not major roads and it’s really easy to miss a dirt road leading down to Coffee Bay or J-bay or any number of secluded epic breaks along the N2 highway. For me the bars were a key guide to spending as much time in the water as possible.

The Colorway Inspiration behind the Slyde x Dafins 

Slyde has used the same Pantone color with black on the Envy Handboard and the Gromboad in the past. However, with the Envy we let the decal and the design do most of the talking. Where with the Slyde x Dafins the color combination does most of the talking. 

Kanui from Dafin was the first to point out how sweet the envy color combination would look on a fin. As with any design you have an idea, what may work well, but you never really know until you see the actual product in hand. Kanui has been doing fins manufacturing a long time, so we went with his lead and they came out incredible. I may be bias, but I think it’s the best fin color combination to date. 

Order Slyde x Dafin đŸ”„â†’

Travis Davies
Travis Davies



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