wax

[monk]

I'm a fan of the old school clear wax which is getting harder and harder to find these days. Does anyone know whats up with the thicker base wax? I guess the tour series isn't so bad for a few weeks use but tends to clump and not comb so easily. I guess its also a bit more spendy $.

[picklestein]

The clear wax is still available. You just have to find a shop that orders it. The problem is that more people want the bump formula, like Quick Humps. It's just a more better, more high performance wax. It forms bumps instead of smearing on like the clear wax. That way you can grip it with your monkey feet as well as use it's tackiness. You don't necessarily need a base coat, but it helps the wax stick to the board. The goal of the base coat is to bond to the board itself, while the topcoat is there for traction and tackiness. Throw down a solid basecoat, and cover that up with your topcoat every session and you'll be rippin.

Everything is more spendy these days. Shops have always lost money on wax to get people in the store. Now that the economy's in the crapper, lots of shops just can't afford to lose that money. I wouldn't be bummed to spend $1.50 for nearly a month's worth of surfing.

Also, don't be fooled by the "green" waxes. First off they're terrible. Second, they're not green. The parrafin used in surf wax is a by-product of the petroleum industry. There will always be parrafin as long as there's gasoline. So surf wax, canddles, wax teeth, lip balms, etc. use an existing product instead of throwing it away. Soy waxes are an entirely new crop that needs to be grown, watered, fed, processed, transported, etc. All that extra energy to produce the soy base. That's ridiculous to claim "earth friendly".

[jayfrizzo]

Look at pickle, kickin' the knowledge.

Nice post.

J-

[monk]

I don't buy it, I much prefer the feel of the board beneath my feet rather than the slippery humps of wax which bond together forming uneven patches mounding together. Its good when I'm in a rush or on a trip where I don't have access or time to properly apply an even amount of wax throughout the surface of my board. As with the green wax, the contents within the board itself are ten times over the toxicity of 1000 bars.