The other morning I was talking to a good surfer. We were talking about how to get weight down on boards without sacrificing strength. This guy had a Firewire. I looked at the board and he must have had a pound and a half of wax on his board. Like 1/4" bumps easily.
Wax looks ugly and weighs quite a bit (if you put it on thick).
We obsess about an ounce here and there of weight, not too mention the hydro dynamic subtleties of lift and drag and yet we unthinkingly tolerate this bumpy mass of weight on the decks of our boards…1930’s technology?
Oh. not too mention obscuring some fine glasswork and art with a dirty, tarry mess.
I know there was a wax alternative but it was expensive and had mixed reviews. I’ve thought about bagging a layer of teak, unfinished on the deck (is there a less expensive alternative to teak?).
Come on. There’s got to be a better way?
ps wax does smell nice. coconut wax and coppertone is like my aroma therapy, bringing back memories of summer days spent at the beach
I had an idea once of building footwells into a board, in such a way as to eliminate the need for wax. But it would only work on a board that you don't move around much on, and you'd need to put them in the right place. I'd still like to try it.
I also sometimes wonder how irregular a surface it would take to eliminate the need for wax. The top (deck) isn't really hydrodynamic anyway. Jick bottom on the top?
I like the smell of fresh wax, new wetsuits, poly resin...
A close friend and neighbor who has shaped his own experimental boards for decades has a couple boards he made back in the 70's that have a foot pocket for the front foot.
Here's a shot of it on the right, and another one of his 70's sticks as well.
I know this is unheard of on Sway’s but here’s a couple wax alternatives.
**If these aren’t acceptable Greg Liddle and a few others used to sand crescent moons and similar swipes into the deck sand coat using different grits in place of wax. If you want less grip use a finer grit while doing the swipes. **
**…or maybe just apply some traction material to the soles of your feet with Super Glue…
**
Maybe that super-hydrophobic spray will work? I presume that the water droplets and film on the deck are the main reason for loss of traction. If there is no water between foot and deck, there should be more grip. (im thinking from ice skating and a tyre on wet tarmac point of view)
Or Maybe booties can be made with subtle suction cups on the soles....(not an otion for tropical water surfers obviously.....well...not till after some hippie pro starts doing it)
if you look up surfersteve on the googler, theres a whole section on how/ why not to use wax. The basica idea is that instead of sanding the hotcoat smooth with a 220 or 320, just hit it with some 80 and rough it up. The uneven, bumpy surface supposedly gives as much traction as wax. I didnt try it because I would hate to lie down on that during the summer with no rashguard.
On this point, there is a question that has been bugging me for years and ive never known who to ask. Why do pro’s boards look like they have no wax on them? I used to think the pictures were touched up before being printed, but now that comp webcasts are good quality you can tell that the board spray is clearly visible, not skewed through a bunch of wax. What gives? Do pros have some clear superwax we don’t know about? Do they grow suction cups on their feet? Superman strength toes? I now Taj waxes his feet, but that cant be enough.
@ the OP, sticky bumpz just came out with some ‘boost’ wax. A kid picked up his board just by putting his hands on a waxed deck, you could definitely save some weight if you used like 1/2 or 1/4 bar of that instead of a whole bar of normal wax
Cork deck with no glass (ala drewtang), the added benefit of this is you can use the stringerless/bagged construction which gets you a really light/strong board also, in the context of saving weight.
Sprinkle sugar into the final deck hotcoat, it dissolves and leaves a nice roughed up texture in the resin (I think this was an old sailboard trick? maybe someone can clarify)
I originally developed the technology for longboard nose riding, but after watching young guys surfing realized they rarely move their leading foot so it kinda morphed into a traction pad for shortboards also.
Interesting. I didn’t really feel like trying the traction thing… I like wax for its ritualistic value. I also did think about shredding a nice new winter suit and getting super pissed that I had ruined a suit to save 2 bucks every few weeks.
Maybe get a crapload of those things you stick to your dashboard to keep your cell phone from sliding around?
And your definitely right about the new wax. They must use less than normal humans tho, i usually put on a whole bar of SB or Palmer or i slide around on my belly when I paddle out…
Nice board Dave, and nice photo in action! Did you vacuum bag the cork down with glass, or.. I mean, how did you attach the cork to the deck? Thanks, - Huck
