Nordic Glide Wax Box - A Recommendation of all that you need and nothing more
Tue, Dec 1, 2020 - By Ian Harvy
Glide Wax Box Recommendation Times are changing and so is technology. Here is all that you need for glide waxes and tools and nothing more. This recommendation is for the passionate skier, fitness skier, or fluorine free racer.
Base Performance Liquid Paraffin Waxes. This will be your staple or your every day wax. It is quick and easy to put on and is very effective. For best performance, apply it when you get back from a ski, not just before. Here is a quick video explanation. These waxes make your skis fast (faster than traditional hot waxes), but don't protect or condition your ski bases as well as hot waxes do. The Blue is the best overall and has a huge range. I'd recommend using that if the snow is at all dry. It is amazing in anything cold including extremely cold dry and slow snow. The range is exceptional. I ski on this 90% of the time in the mountain west. I only use the Yellow when it is really wet. Otherwise for around freezing the Red is best.
Base Performance Hot Waxes Blue and Red. These will be your ski base maintenance waxes. If conditions are really wet (spring type) use the red. Otherwise, use the blue which means you will use the blue most of the time. The Base Performance Hot Wax blue is not as hard as some of the blue hot waxes we have had in the past which means it both is easier to work with and it goes into the base easier. This is the perfect all around base wax for keeping your ski bases in good shape as well as increasing the durability of your wax job. I recommend hot waxing every 2-3 times out skiing depending on your standard. This hot waxing will not make your skis faster for the short term, but it will keep your bases in good shape which makes them faster for the long term.
For getting wax into new ski bases or for working on skis with very dry bases, Base Performance Cleaning wax is also excellent. This is a super soft wax that goes into the base really well. I hardly ever use it, but that's because I don't let my bases get that dry. It is great to put a few layers of this on new skis though.
For brushes, you just need two for the system that we are talking about here. Go with the
The Copper Brush is what you would use to brush out all of your hot waxes. The Yellow Liquid Paraffin Polish Brush is what you would use to brush out the Base Performance Liquid Paraffin (all colors).
Of course you will also need
- a ski waxing iron,
- some kind of fixation device,
- a plexiglass scraper,
- a multipurpose or groove scraper (whichever you prefer for the grooves and sidewalls),
- a Structure Tool,
- and Wax Remover for cleaning your ski bases after skiing in dirty snow...
... but I am guessing you probably already have these.
I also like to use Fiberlene (or Base Tex) to brush the wax dust off my bases after brushing and before spraying BPLP. I also use it with Wax Remover and Skin Cleaner.
Skin skis have become extremely popular, so allow me to make a basic recommendation regarding skin skis. Here you need for sure two products: ECO Skin Proof and Skin Cleaner. ECO Skin Proof is a non fluorinated spray that improves the performance of skins. It keeps them from freezing or icing up and speeds them up in wet snow. When skins get dirty, which is very common, they don't perform very well. It is common for skins to pick up kick wax and klister from the track and then have dirt stick to them, so you will want to clean your skins.
Lastly, if you don't have a place to put it all, all of these items that I listed fit easily in the Toko Soft Wax Box.. There is no wasted space like you find with a hard wax box with drawers that might not accommodate waxes and tools exactly. The Soft Wax Box doesn't open suddenly spilling your contents and when in the back of your vehicle it doesn't crash around when you are driving making you wonder if there will be anything left in the bag when you arrive. The shoulder strap also makes it easy to carry when skiing or when carrying a large amount of stuff. It is also about 1/3 the price of hard shell wax boxes. I have one for kick waxes and tools and one for glide waxes and tools.
