All Temp Wax Recomendation

[NmbrdDays]

I enjoy the solitude of waxing my gear as much as the next guy but damn I didn't realize how much you
People can geek out! How many of us are still racing / out in the competitive circuit? Maybe it's just me, I'm done spending $$$$ on high end wax. Usually waxing 2-3 pairs at a time, I don't want to spend my entire week waxing my gear. I buy the cheapest wax at the end of the season on backcountry.com. I can't tell the difference between the high end fluoro waxes plus if you get 1-2 days before you have to do it again, the cheap stuff wins for me. I'm still having fun and smiling!

[wasatchback]

Best bud ran the alpine program for Swix here in the US for a while. I asked the same question about base prep vs regular wax I seem to remember his answer being base prep waxes are designed to penetrate into the base better and act as a bonding agent for the wax used throughout the season.

Holmenkol Beta has about the largest temperature window out there. You could use it in just about every condition except super cold and super warm days. It's also easy to either add graphite or flouro to Beta if you need it. Holmenkol system is a little different but pretty idiot proof once you get it.

If you're really looking to prep your skis for the season and keep them nice and greasy for a long period of time get yourself a really agro steel brush. They look a little frightening to use but they really will open the pores of the base and help the prep wax penetrate the base. Wax one ski then before the wax cools you literally brush the wax out of the ski starting with the steel brush, then brass, then horsehair. Then repeat 8 or so more times. Sounds like a lot but it works if you're into waxing your skis a bunch.

Hot boxing them two or three times does wonders as well.

[AlpiNord]

Whats the diff between base prep wax and normal race wax?

Base prep waxes saturate and protect the bases and provide a foundation for temperature and moisture content specific, more expensive race waxes which will change depending on current conditions and desired results. In some cases (RMB), the base wax can serve as a training wax and this is what IMO works very well for performance recreational skiers as a durable universal wax which protects the bases and can be tweaked if desired. (See 'Protection' below.)

...or adding a base prep/protection waxing step and layer can be beneficial under other softer/cheaper universal waxes you prefer.

If you have trouble sleeping, from the Briko-Maplus Waxing manual:

SATURATION
The racing ski bases are generally made of ultra
high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)
loaded with graphite.
The bases in UHMWPE are realized through sintering.
It is a process that consists in melting under
pressure high molecular weight polyethylene
powder mixed with additives in a cylindrical mould.
Once cooled down, the cylindrical shape obtained
is cut to the desired thickness by means of a peeling
device, thus generating the sintered base.
During the polyethylene cooling process, some
empty micro-spaces will originate at the points of
contact among crystalline microspherulites. The
base saturation is possible by spreading the liquid
paraffin in these empty micro-spaces. The heat is
crucial, because it keeps the paraffin liquid and generates
micro-movements of polyethylene, that facilitate
the final saturation of empty micro-spaces.
Thanks to electronic iron ELECTRONIC IRON WAX,
saturation occurs normally with about 30 waxing
treatments, waiting from time to time that the base
cools down, in order to prevent the ski internal
structure from heating excessively.
For high-level, saturation is carried out in 2 or 3
times through the thermo bag, THERMO WAXING
BAG, that allows distributing the temperature
evenly, and consequently the paraffin across the
base. Just leave the ski covered with a thick layer
of paraffin in the bag at a temperature of 55 °
/ 60 ° C, for a period that can range from 24 to
36 hours according to the type of ski construction.
The temperature should not be higher than the one
indicated, as excessive heat can damage the internal
structure of the skis. SOFT RACING BASE
shall be used because, during the saturation process,
it remains liquid at the temperature indicated.

The process is repeated 2 or 3 times until the ski
is taken off from the bag at the end of treatment,
still covered by the layer of paraffin. At this point,
saturation is complete.
It is important to wait for the ski to cool down inside
the thermo bag closed, to prevent damage to the
structure of polyethylene and skis.
Instead of the thermo bag, the thermo cover THERMO
COVER can be used in the same way, but in
shorter time. The ski bases are compressed against
the thermo cover and saturation is completed in
6 / 9 hours. The temperature of the thermo cover
can not be adjusted and it constantly fluctuates between
55 ° / 60 ° C.
The use of the thermo bag or the thermo cover
compared to electronic iron makes skis immediately
more sliding and resistant to abrasion and dirt.
The saturation process must be repeated every
time the skis are grinded by a stone grinding
machine.


PROTECTION
After the base saturation, proceed to the base
waxing maintaining and protection during transport.
It is the waxing that is carried out each time
between a race and the next, or between a training
and the next; it differs from waxing saturation
because it is done with high melting paraffins and
therefore harder, such as MED BASE. The characteristic
of these paraffins is their very wide application,
in other words, they are high quality products
that offer good sliding in all conditions and high
abrasion resistance.
Over this resistant and performing paraffin protection
sub-layer, it is possible to carry out the race
waxing, making sure that the base surface (surface
empty micro-spaces) is perfectly brushed and
polished, and ready to be saturated by race wax.

[RShea]

Base prep tends to usually be softer wax in my experience. Most always they also are hydrocarbon waxes. It is designed to be absorbed into the base. Many "race" waxes tend to be temperature specific, flourocarbon (at least low flouro) and have to be matched to snow temperature typically for best effectiveness. Think of using the base prep for getting the ski saturated and wax embedded into the base, then top layer of the higher end "race" wax matched for the day of use.

[GeezerSteve]

The Briko-Maplus medium race base is certainly not soft. Slidewright's site describes it as "medium hard." More importantly for my use, it is tenacious, i.e., it stays on the ski base considerably longer than any glide wax I've ever used, especially in abrasive snow conditions. It's also quite elastic, i.e., non-brittle, and thus resistant to flaking.

I first learned about base/binding waxes when I did lots of XC classic skiing decades ago. Back then, for fine grain snow we ironed Swix special green or polar into the kick zone and then rubbed on the appropriate hard kick wax for the temperature and snow condition. Swix and Toko now make iron-in kick binders that are quite hard and tenacious. When the tracks got cooked out and/or icy with new fine grain snow over them, we sometimes ironed in a green or blue klister "cushion" over which we rubbed and corked hard wax. Yeah, talk about kick wax binders is a bit of a thread drift, but it is somewhat relevant to the use of a base binding wax.

[LightRanger]

The mention of klister brings back ugh memories of high school race waxing. I much preferred skating. Probably finally picking it back up again this winter.

[GeezerSteve]

Haha, I hear ya. Klister is a mess, but a good klister day is great fun if you hit the wax.

[Jax]

+3 for Purl Wax.

Purple Purl for all temp. I sometimes mix with the harder blue on super chilly days. Fast stuff, and Scott's a great guy.

[galibier_numero_un]

Most of the comments I see about waxing and tuning seem to side-step a major consideration - that of frequently hitting rocks. As the late, great Doug Coombs said in the Q&P video - the best skiing has the most rocks (words to that effect).

I get the concept of a base not getting frequent rock hits for racers, because they're not hanging out in the shark fields. For the rest of us, frequent dings seem to be the norm.

So, after repairing gouges I'll typically use a SkiVisions base flattener to to clean up the p-tex repairs. It's a great tool (thanks Terry!) and a great upgrade from Sureforms I used before this. Since there are likely repairs in several sections of the base, I'm invariably killing the structure and reestablishing it.

All of this is to say that the concept of multiple waxings for full penetration/absorption into the new structure is meaningless to me. I get maybe 2-3 waxings and the process starts all over again. So, I have an ok structure/wax absorption and clean bases and edges.

Am I missing something?

Cheers,
Thom

[AlpiNord]

Most of the comments I see about waxing and tuning seem to side-step a major consideration - that of frequently hitting rocks. As the late, great Doug Coombs said in the Q&P video - the best skiing has the most rocks (words to that effect).

I get the concept of a base not getting frequent rock hits for racers, because they're not hanging out in the shark fields. For the rest of us, frequent dings seem to be the norm.

So, after repairing gouges I'll typically use a SkiVisions base flattener to to clean up the p-tex repairs. It's a great tool (thanks Terry!) and a great upgrade from Sureforms I used before this. Since there are likely repairs in several sections of the base, I'm invariably killing the structure and reestablishing it.

All of this is to say that the concept of multiple waxings for full penetration/absorption into the new structure is meaningless to me. I get maybe 2-3 waxings and the process starts all over again. So, I have an ok structure/wax absorption and clean bases and edges.

Am I missing something?

Cheers,
Thom

Only remove wax and restructure at repair locations so you don't affect the rest of the ski's past waxings.

Also, wherever you weld the bases, it is no longer sintered, but essentially extruded material. These areas will not absorb as well. When deciding on repairs, assess whether or not it is simply an aesthetic 'battle scar' or if it will affect performance to minimize needed vs unnecessary repairs. Knock down high points with the SkiVisons blade.

Edit: For shallow and more superficial gouges and scratches you might try using a super hard wax to fill in those areas first.

I had forgotten, but before Maplus merged with Briko, their hydrocarbon race base prep waxes were soft, medium and hard. Now the soft and hard green are gone. Instead the medium remains and due to 'World Cup technician requests', the 40:60 soft:med special reserve base prep wax came on board. The soft saturates and the medium protects in one prep wax vs a couple and still glides well as a stand alone. In a hot box, this would be awesome.

The race base hard, which I suspect is not unlike the current BP1 Green, was like applying an epoxy and provided super base protection and glided well in cold snows. For scratches and minor gouges, you'd get fairly long lived repairs while preserving the sintering and glide. Sometimes I'll add this to the base prep process, especially for BC skis or super abrasive snows to increase the protection. Some use hard waxes along the edges to reduce base burn.

[galibier_numero_un]

Also, wherever you weld the bases, it is no longer sintered, but essentially extruded material. These areas will not absorb as well. When deciding on repairs, assess whether or not it is simply an aesthetic 'battle scar' or if it will affect performance to minimize needed vs unnecessary repairs. Knock down high points with the SkiVisons blade.

Thanks Terry, this might be the best bit of advice for someone suffering from OCD. That Skimender P360 pistol I picked up from you a couple of years ago (or whatever model # their primo pistol was at the time) is so easy to use, that one can get carried away in using it after it reaches operating temperature.

Cheers,
Thom

[AlpiNord]

PSA:

SlideWright is now carrying Purl Wax.