If Burton is the "Louis Vuitton" of the snow boarding world, what brand would be considered the "Louis Vuitton" the surfing world or the short board surfing world? It may sound like a dumb question to some but others would like to know.
What? Doesn't Vissla make those cool retro fishes that you see in all their pix and vids?? Oh yeah, I'd be all over one of those Vissla fishes. Besides, Vissla starts with a "V", just like Vuitton. Hell, it doesn't come any closer than that.
nailed it. ...although, I don't see burton as a "boutique" snowboard company. Channel Islands, yes (because they only make one tier of product: expensive), but Burton makes all price points of snowboard gear...most of it being low end garbage. Like many others, I tried for a long time to avoid Burton...but then realized most of my stuff was actually burton because they bought out just about every other company in the snow biz, but kept the acquired companies names. Part of the reason for the acquisitions being burton was getting a bad reputation for proprietary attachments, poor quality...and attempted monopoly(s).
@Waterbaby...Actually Al Merrick came out with a "bargain" line of boards Anacappa, named after the street he shaped on in Santa Barbara. The boards are exact copies of some of the CIS line and mass produced in Thailand by the Global Surf Industries Conglomerate.