In a world swimming in surf gear, companies with surfing heritage have become increasingly important to hard-core enthusiasts. Rip Curl's got it in spades.

Synonymous with surfing since 1967, Rip Curl began as a small surfboard manufacturing company in Australia. They grew to create dozens of wetsuit styles, board shorts without the stitching that surfers said annoyed them, performance footwear, backpacks, mountainwear and watches. For those girls who want to look Blue Crush without getting wet, there are plenty of fashion-oriented items, like watches, flip flops and cute hoodies. The look is not as wacky (or wack, as the case may be) as other surfwear lines; for the most part it's more about understatement and performance.