Earnings Per Share (Reconciliation Of Components Used To Compute Basic And Diluted Net Income Per Common Share) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011		Sep. 30, 2010		Sep. 30, 2011		Sep. 30, 2010
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income (loss) attributable to Quicksilver	$ 28,686		$ 21,803		$ 66,515		$ 116,794
Basic income allocable to participating securities	(359)	[1]	(286)	[1]	(801)	[1]	(1,512)	[1]
Basic net income attributable to Quicksilver	28,327		21,517		65,714		115,282
Impact of assumed conversions - interest on 1.875% convertible debentures, net of income taxes							5,361
Income available to stockholders assuming conversion of convertible debentures	$ 28,327		$ 21,517		$ 65,714		$ 120,643
Weighted average common shares - basic	169,031,000		168,053,000		168,963,000		167,962,000
Share-based compensation awards	705,000	[2]	730,000	[2]	805,000	[2]	788,000	[2]
Contingently convertible debentures		[2]		[2]		[2]	9,816,000	[2]
Weighted average common shares - diluted	169,736,000		168,783,000		169,768,000		178,566,000
Earnings per common share - basic	$ 0.17		$ 0.13		$ 0.39		$ 0.69
Earnings per common share - diluted	$ 0.17		$ 0.13		$ 0.39		$ 0.68
Convertible Debentures [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive shares excluded from the diluted share calculation	9,800,000		9,800,000		9,800,000		9,800,000
Debt instrument, interest percentage	1.875%				1.875%
Stock Options and Unvested Restricted Stock Units [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive shares excluded from the diluted share calculation	2,000,000				1,900,000
Restricted Stock [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive shares excluded from the diluted share calculation	1,900,000		1,200,000		1,900,000		1,200,000

[1] Restricted share awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends are participating securities and, therefore, are included in computing earnings using the two-class method. Participating securities, however, do not participate in undistributed net losses.

[2] For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the effects of 9.8 million shares associated with our contingently convertible debt were antidilutive, and stock options and unvested restricted stock units representing 2.0 million and 1.9 million shares, respectively, were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations. For the three months ended September 30, 2010, the effects of 9.8 million shares associated with our contingently convertible debt were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010, unvested restricted stock units representing 1.2 million shares were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations.