Blog

Ben Aipa - A Father’s Legacy
For Father's Day this year we wanted to do something special, so we hopped on a call with our very own collaborator, Duke Aipa, to talk about growing up as the son of legendary surfer and shaper, Ben Aipa. Duke...
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Dark Arts Surfboard Reviews: Heres What they Said..
We recently asked Dark Arts customers to send in a testimonial and a photo of their Dark Arts surfboard. Here we've selected a few to share and hope you enjoy! Thanks again to all the people that have sent in their surfboard...
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Camp Shred 2022
Earlier this month, Dark Arts represented at the two-day Surf Ride Camp Shred Event at the San Elijo Campground, Cardiff. Great turnout & overall great time. Special thanks to Surfride for putting on the epic event.  This year's demo fleet included popular models from JT, AIPA, Pyzel, Sharp...
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First Team Rider- Johnny Noris
Photo: John King     Out of high school, San Diego native, Johnny Noris, went the path of a dreamer. Placing second to Rob Machado in a contest at Seaside Reef lit a fire within, prompting Johnny to see what...
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Surfing, Welcome to the Olympics
Photo Credit: Justin Jung For the first time in history, surfing premiered as an opportunity for chasing Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Suggested by Duke Kahanamoku to be included in the 1912 Stockholm Games, and realized by the efforts...
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Third Times a Charm for Filipe Toledo
True to the predictability of wave pool surfing, not much looked different on this year's final day of competition at the Surf Ranch Pro. That is not counting the excruciating heat bearing down on the Central California Valley. And the...
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We Care About the Earth
Photo: T Sherms   As reliant and connected surfers are to mother nature's gifts of land and sea, the board industry is a far cry from lending a hand in preserving our planet. With an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 surfboards...
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WSL Talks Equipment: The Future is Carbon.
Getting Heated is the WSL's new debate show featuring legends Mick Fanning and Ross Williams. Here they battle over surfing's latest topics and trends. A recent discussion of theirs spotlights the writing on the wall, the bold print we've seen since our...
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The Stab Belongs to Sharp Eye
Two months and twelve boards later, Taj Burrow hails the Inferno by Sharp Eye as this year's Stab in the Dark champion. Brazilian-born shaper, Marcio Zouvi, has given wings to some of the best aerial surfers in the world, like...
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Stab in the Dark (Arts)
What is the best surfboard in the world? A question surfing enthusiasts and craftsmen have been asking since the early 1900s. If an objective answer were possible, determining the ideal means of the free-form, bound-only-by-imagination experience of surfing, then the...
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Time to Step Up
Step-up boards are usually a bit longer than one’s regular choice, designed for stability with better paddling performance.
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Dark Arts, Light Ride - Surfline Feature on our Founder, JT
The middle road is hardly a description associated with surfing greats John John Florence, Filipe Toledo, and Ian Walsh. But according to Justin Ternes, Dark Arts founder and innovator, it’s exactly the path they want their boards to travel. Justin...
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Our Ambitious Pursuit
   The current age of cross-border manufacturing and outsourcing parts and materials from the lowest bidder has emphasized the importance of American made surfboards. It’s not that the U.S is the all-seeing eye, abled, and more proficient than our brothers and...
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Caring for Your Dark Arts SurfBoard
   Traditionally, the life expectancy of a high-performance surfboard is a slender six to twelve months. We are pleased to boast much higher expectations for a Dark Arts board. Carbon is the most durable material used for creating surfboards while...
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Healing Habits - Surfing and Yoga
Kristyan Stjerne on Carbon Dan Mann  Surfing and yoga share many similarities that lend to improving the quality of our lives. We’re etched in a world of hurry, instant gratification, and anxiety reigns as the day is long. If we...
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Adding to Your Quiver: What to Look for in Your Next Summer Board
$terling $pencer on the JT COFFIN.   Photo by: Alex Dantin   We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's like a pale moon or a ship on the horizon, but it's there. If they'd told us we...
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COVID 19 & Dark Arts
    Officially the Dark Arts team is working or not really working and just trying to wrap our heads around everything that is going on in the world as of Friday, March 20th, 2020.  That said, we can do...
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What’s a Dark Arts Surfboard Made of?
People trip out when they pick up a Dark Arts carbon board. Yes it’s light and no it’s not hollow, it’s EPS foam, we swear.  Simply, the tech itself is a culmination of our founder, Justin Ternes’ expertise, his 21...
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Camp Shred Follow Up
Last Month, Dark Arts participated in its first two-day Surf Ride and Surfer Magazine Camp Shred Event at the San Elijo Campground, Cardiff.  We’re stoked to report that our booth was non-stop and several people got to demo our boards...
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The New Shop
In October of 2019, Dark Arts expanded its production to a new 2500 sq ft location in north San Diego, just a few miles from the beach. Our factory houses our showroom, office and production facility. After a six month wait,...
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