Just The Facts, Ma'am:
What Is it...?
As Tognar puts it so simply: "This low-fluoro universal wax provides excellent glide at warmer air temperatures (up to 50 F) and/or moist snow conditions... but can also be used at temperatures down to 14 F (-10 C). It's easy to apply as a paste right on the slopes or when away from your workshop... or is available in solid bars so you can also apply it as a hot-wax..."
How Much Is It...?
A 180-gram bar costs about $30. That's about a full season of daily rub-on waxings... or, fifteen [or so] iron-on waxings. That's important to note: This wax, in solid bar form, can be rubbed on, and it works very well as a rub-on. Ironing it is in no way, mandatory.
Where Do You Get It...?
Online: www.tognar.com (among many others). Locally? Many ski and snowboard shops either carry this already, or can special-order it. I get mine from Marcia at Skiers Edge in Indianapolis, when she has it in stock. Tognar the rest of the time, or in bulk boxes.
It Comes As:
A 900-gram bulk pack (5, 180-gram bars); 180-gram solid bar; a 40 ml. tin of paste; or, a 250 ml. tin of paste. I recommend the bars. More wax, less money, less mess, and less headaches= good pick.
The Bad Stuff:
There's not much "bad" to note here. Which is why I put it first. The only gripe that I have, is the initial $30 price tag. It's about 50% more expensive than most "universal" hydrocarbon waxes on the market (which retail for about $19-$20). It seems kinda steep, at first. Sticker-shock steep.
But: I only spend about that thirty bucks about once a year. And, in return: I get totally blazing snowboard performance in lots of temperatures and conditions, all season long. So, I do tend to forget the price tag pretty quickly. At least, until I have to buy more. Then, it all comes back to me...
The Good, Good Stuff:
As far as I can recall, I first heard of Swix F4 from Dave at Snowboard Jones (Kaye St., Manchester, NH) back in the mid-'90s. I think he tossed me a tin of it, and recommenced it as "super good shit", or something like that. I trust Dave, and Dave always knows what he's talkin' about. So, I used it. And still do, to this day. Why? It works, and works great. Plain and simple.
This is the stuff you're lookin' for, right here...
Unlike most "universal" waxes, this wax is a " low-fluoro". That means, it has an additive that makes it glide much better through "variable" snow conditions. That's a buzzphrase for: Whatever You'll Run Into Out There. F4 works best, though, in warmer and slushier snow, where there's a high water content. Basically: Late-season and springtime conditions... although, it's versatile enough that it truly does work well as an all-condition, all-temp wax. If you buy just one wax for your kit? Then, this should be that wax...
For our "testing", I spent an entire day at Perfect North, randomly waxing people's boards with a 180-gram bar of F4. Application is easy: Just rub it on [like you're coloring the bottom of your board with a giant crayon]... and then, buff it out with a Scotch-Brite pad [which shines it up all pretty like]. And, that's it! Doesn't get any easier than that, folks.
Who'd I wax? Everyone from experienced riders, to first-time snowboarders on rental equipment. Literally, the entire spectrum of possible snowboarders. Men and women, kids and adults, everyone...
The results? Well, of course: Any wax will beat no wax, any day. But, that's not the point. The point was, everyone from total newbies to full-on experts liked the results that they got from this wax. Everyone boarded better, and had more fun, with this wax. A lot of people even asked what it was, and where they could get some for themselves. The conditions were, for the record: Low of 28 degrees, high of about 40 degrees, on man-made snow, with a little bit of melt going on (because of the warm high temp on this day).
This is the standard that every other wax on the market... and, every other wax we'll ever test... will have to live up to. It's a high benchmark. Naturally, that makes it a really good buy that we'd recommend to anyone.
