This Is The Best Surf Wax In The World, According To Kelly, Dane, Italo, and More

A few years back, out of boredom and frugality, I performed a painstakingly thorough and surprisingly earnest surf wax test. 

What started as a seemingly clever way to secure a lifetime’s supply of grip ended with blistered hands, a broken hairdryer (sorry mom), and a ball of wax so big it would roll Occy right over the edge of despair. 

But in the end, we found a winner: Fu Wax, from Brazil. 

Here’s their official score sheet:

Wax: Fu Wax

Origin: Brazil

Cost per bar: $5 USD

Wax Test rating: 10/10

Analysis: I simply can’t imagine a better wax in 2018. Fu creates that “soft feet” feeling, where the board seems to follow your movements no matter which way you turn. Due to its non-horizontal slip, Fu makes stomping airs a breeze, and if anything, its tackiness only increases throughout the session. Amazingly, the secret Fu formula was developed over 20 years of trial and error and, like many great inventions before it, was only discovered due to a production mistake.

Read the complete (and surprising but true) history of Fu here. 

…But should you really take surf media’s Benjamin Buttons’ word for it?

Despite the apparent wisdom in these mid-20s wrinkles, my tastes on the subject of wax are far less valuable than those of the world’s best surfers. These guys and gals lather the shit on their boards every damn day, while I toil away in front of a series of increasingly smaller screens, like a Black Mirror episode based on the principles of Russian dolls.

Recently, one of Stab’s principals shared a session with a man who relies heavily on surfboard traction, Noa Deane. Having landed some of the biggest hangers in surfing’s history, Noa’s wellbeing (both physically and financially) is intrinsically tied to not falling off his surfboard. So we asked Noa, when you’re not rocking Rage nose-to-tail, what’s your go-to grip?

(A rough recollection of said conversation)

Noa: I just got Fu back after not using it for two or three years. I’m hooked again.

Stab: Is it the best wax in the world? 

Noa: Definitely the best topcoat. It stays sticky for hours and gets rid of any slime that you get on your feet walking out to the surf. 

Stab: How do you use it? 

Noa: In colder waters, I like to load up on it a bit—sometimes even without a base coat. In warmer water I only use a tiny bit with a hard basecoat, otherwise it just goes all over your board. 

Stab: Why do you think Brazilians kept this secret to themselves for so long? 

Noa: It definitely takes away some of that robbery factor on airs, which is sick because I absolutely hate slipping off last minute. It also helps when the wind isn’t amazing.

Noa’s testimony was convincing, but we can’t put all our blocks in one basketcase. We needed to hear from more pros, from different disciplines, to see if Fu is well and truly the world’s best surf wax. 

So we tapped a few shoulders. Peaked between the fence posts. Performed forensic analyses on spilled acai bowls. Even sent a few drones over notable North Shore compounds. The results are in, and here are the surfers we know for certain choose Fu over any other topcoat (most confess to using blue Sex Wax as the base):

Kelly Slater

John Florence

Dane Reynolds

Gabriel Medina

Italo Ferreira

Lakey Peterson

Jordy Smith

Caroline Marks

Kolohe Andino

Filipe Toledo

Michel Bourez

Jack Freestone

Creed McTaggart

Matt Meola

Ian Crane

Again, this was just a superficial first pass. A more thorough examination would likely reveal dozens of top pros who prefer the Brazilian bear trap to any other surf wax. For the sake of time, we just wanted to provide a general picture of the breadth and depth of Fu’s cult following. 

Now, I want you to think about the names above and all the incredible surfing they’ve done in the past decade. Kelly at Cloudbreak, Dane in Japan, Italo every day on Instagram. Etc. 

Now consider this: the performances you remember most were made possible, in large part, by Fu Wax. 

Unlike with surfboards, wetsuits, grip pads, and fins, a single hardgoods brand has captured the undivided attention of surfing’s foremost talents. We find that remarkable. Whether or not the product has a direct application to your own surfing, we can’t say. But it’s worth acknowledging Fu for their contributions to the art of waveriding, if nothing else. 

We never thought we’d say this, but $5 a bar is goddamn bargain.