My Taiwanese made Katin trunks lasted one and a half weeks. The snaps started rusting the first day. Than got to the point where the got so hard to open cause of rust I pulled the snaps out of the trunks. Another great name down the outsourcing tube. To bad. They could have at least used something that was not going to rust, we are talking TWO snaps.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
first john deere, then levis, then ben davis now this
I think katin was bought out a few years ago by nike or some corp
Quote:
I think katin was bought out a few years ago by nike or some corp
K2 bought them. Not sure if they still own them.
hey, there’s still birdwell … doubt they’ll sell out. They’re the most durable trunk on the planet.
Nancy was a friend…
A good friend that fed and clothed me.
I miss those days …very,very much.
Herb
Amen to that Herb, I still have some customs layin around , they dont fit but I cant givum up. I call it, no butt with a gut syndrome .
have you tried wearing them upside down? ; )
he does were them backwards after e few tecates sometimes!
Thats where the gut comes from. The Katins gave alot back to surfing back in the day its to bad this happened, sad.
Howzit Herb, Yeah Walter and Nancy Katin were sponsers for our surf club which meant we got a discount on trunks. Back then they guarnteed their trunks, one club member wore a hole in his from sitting on the stage at H.B. pier and they still gave him a new pair. Spent many Saturdays and Sundays at the shop talking story with them, classs act. We entered the first Katin contest and one member took second, first place got a new Gordie Surfboard. My 15 minutes of fame was beating Bill Wetzel in my heat. Aloha,Kokua
use to drive down from ventucky just to get a few pair made up…still got 'em! bummer it went this way…
Quote:
My Taiwanese made Katin trunks lasted one and a half weeks. The snaps started rusting the first day. Than got to the point where the got so hard to open cause of rust I pulled the snaps out of the trunks. Another great name down the outsourcing tube. To bad. They could have at least used something that was not going to rust, we are talking TWO snaps.
That sucks. Is there any kind of warranty? Maybe if they change the snap button material to something that doesn’t rust, they would still be a decent trunk? I think just about all trunks (besides Birdwell) are made overseas somewhere nowadays?
Baggies ain’t whut they used to wuz.
My Katin memory: bought two new pair of baggies summer of '76 for a six-week drive-from-Florida-to-Mexico
surf trip. One pair rip-stop nylon Katins so stiff they’d stand up by themselves, one pair Sundek. The beachbreaks
of southern Mex tore those Sundeks to shreds, they didn’t even last the trip. (hell, I almost didn’t last the trip)
The Katins came back on a repeat trip the next year and were about broke-in by then. They continued to serve
for many years. Definitely the most durable baggies I ever owned.
“Maybe if they change the snap button material to something that doesn’t rust, they would still be a decent trunk?”
They look like they would be pretty good with a better quality snap. That would cut into the profit a little though.
I am not saying I don’t like em cause they are made overseas. Just cause they fell apart in a week and a half. I have had a pair of Quicksilver trunks that feel like the same material that have lasted several years. They were made in Hong Kong.
Still wearing (right now actually) Katins that I bought about 15 years ago. Too bad to hear it has went in that direction…Not sure what to get now.
I just went upstairs and checked out a pair of Kaitins that I have owned since 1972. Of course they don’t fit any more, but the nylon is still tough as nails! I’ve thought about framing them and hanging them as art. Just can’t give them up!
WildDog!
I know you’ve sat around in the ol’ green or brown chairs in the Katin shop talkin’ stories w/ Nancy.
Some of those pics and handmade paintings on the shop walls were made by me.Who knows what happened to them ?
I even ate meals with her and (Mike,her dog) on her boat out back behind the shop.
She gave me surfboards,candy,dates with her gals that worked in the shop.Even a trip to Hawaii to visit friends.
All in all I think I purchased 3 pairs of trunks and owned more than 20 pairs.
You know what ,I have some old skater shots of me in LongBeach,Ca. Wearing her trunks…The two toned ones…I think I’ll make them Public in her honor.
She and several people in the surf industry saved my life…if it wasn’t for people like Nancy…I wouldn’t be here now.
Bless her and those like minded.
Herb
Herein lies the problem. The company that sells em now SELLS that image of days gone past. They have no clue if thay can not make a trunk that can not last 2 weeks. But what do you expect from a industry that sells Chinese popout Gordon & Smiths at Costco.
Howzit Herb, Walter and Nancy were a real class act, spent lots of time in the shop after surfing. I kept 1 pair of Katins for years even though they didn’t fit anymore but I think my ex destroyed them ( with other items ) when we broke up. She also stole some National Geos that were from the second world war, but that’s another story in it’s self.Aloha,Wildog