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So many options to help you stick to your stick. Photo: Jacob Holke
Wax is probably the most overlooked part of any surf setup. Surfers look at board shapes, fin templates, and even traction pad choices to explain why they aren’t ripping as hard as they think they should be. Wax is barely an afterthought. Most of us only think of it when it feels like our feet are slipping off the board, if we think of it at all.
I used to be a firm believer that one should never pay for wax if one can avoid it. I would let my wax sit for too long and keep applying wax on top of wax until my board looked like some mashup of a bizarre Jackson Pollock original and poorly laid concrete. But, if there’s anything I’ve learned from testing and looking for the best wax, it’s that a fresh coat of wax does wonders. It might even be the next best thing to riding a new board. Something about it makes the board feel more responsive and faster.