WAX ON. WAX OFF.
People love a good rivalry – Rocky vs Apollo Creed, Darth vs Luke, Martin Potter vs the English language. In one of surfing’s current unspoken grudge matches, we recently pitted against each other the two kinds of wax most pros go to when it comes to rubbing up their stick – Sex Wax and Fu Wax. The test took place in South Sumatra using the regular ‘warm water’ variety of wax for each brand.
The two key things we looked at were how it went on the board, and how it felt surfing. When buying the actual wax, another factor came into play too – availability. Here are the results for those wanting to maximise grip and minimise slip.
FU WAX
Hailing from Brazil, Fu Wax is a recent addition to the wax wars of recent years. Their logo design is a fairly shameless rip off of the sex wax logo, but we’ll only hold that against them slightly. They also took what was one of the best formulas in the world and tweaked it up to make things tackier (ie stickier).
PERFORMANCE
Plenty sticky when surfing. I didn’t experience any bald-spot rub away that you sometimes get in the warm water of Indo either. You know those little blank spaces that can leave your board bare and slippery? Yeah, bald spots. None of that. This wax as like the Advanced Hair of surf wax. Full coverage. However, speaking of hair, there is some rub off onto the old man rug and boardshorts from paddling and sitting up. Not enough to leave the board wax-free, but plenty to dirty your boardies and leave little sticky balls in your chest and stomach hair. This may not be something the makers thought about because of their penchant to ripping their follicles apart with other types of wax. Maybe Fu Wax is short for Full Brazilian? Smooth where you need it, sticky where it counts. .
APPLICATION
This wax goes on great. It develops nice solid bumps on the board for grip and leaves this gummy tack on top that you know is going to give you some extra grip. It’s great to put on too, seeing the wax slide off the block onto the board without the need to add any strong pressure. An easy and weirdly satisfying experience.
AVAILABILITY
In Australia, this stuff is a nightmare to find. I tried 4 surf stores in West Oz before giving up and ringing my brother to grab some while in Victoria (home of all types of wax). He even had trouble in Torquay, finding only one place that stocked it among the 347 surf stores there. Even then, they had limited quantities and types. One of the few let downs of this brand.
SEX WAX
Sex Wax has been around for donkey’s years, which is to say 46. They really shot to dominance in the surf world some time in the early 2000s when they released their Quick Humps formula, which seems to be the go-to for most surfers globally today.
At the time, this was a proper revolution, because it used a petrochemical base instead of paraffin. This meant it could be nice and tacky, not flake off your board or slip too much. Everyone seems to follow their lead after that.
PERFORMANCE
Also great. I noticed basically no difference between overall grip to Fu Wax, despite the more tacky appearance of the former. You’ll have people swear that Fu Wax is better (or the occasional person who doesn’t like it because they ‘can’t move their feet around’), but in my opinion, they’re wrong. It stays on your board, is less mess on your chest, and keeps you from slipping around like a lubed-up lychee. No complaints in this department.
APPLICATION
Easy peasy, lemon squeasy. I chose to say that because it’s more PC that bosom squeazy or Japanesey. Anyway, I digress. This wax is easy to apply also forms those great little humps that make it easier to grip to your board. While it doesn’t quite have the same glide on to gummy finish that Fu Wax presents, it’s still a hassle free experience when prepping your board for battle.
AVAILABILITY
Sex Wax is like the Coca Cola of the surf world – available everywhere. It Australia it’s in service stations (gas stations for you yanks), milk bars (dairies for you kiwis) and out of your best mate’s wetsuit bucket. One of the key things it has over Fu Wax. At least here. Brazil is probably another story.
VERDICT
Honestly, I don’t have a strong opinion either way. Disappointing to hear I know, since you’ll have people get all passionate about their choice of craft condiment.
If Fu Wax was readily available in Australia at the same price, I’d probably get that just because of the application experience and placebo it gives that things are grippier on your board. The mess thing is a little bit of a factor, but not really enough to counteract the positives.
However, since Sex Wax is easier to find, it’s my go-to whenever I surf. The tiny gap in overall experience Fu Wax presents simply isn’t great enough to have me track it down, or even detour to a specific shop where I know has it. Get what’s closest to your fingers at the time and you’ll be happy.
In short – Fu Wax goes on a little better but is hard to find. Sex Wax is a cleaner experience and is easy to buy. No difference in performance that I can tell. But then, I’m no professional WSL judge, Joe…
