After averaging the trials for each brand of surf wax, it was found that the brand of surf wax, Wave Tribe Eco Wax, provided the most friction.

Wave Tribe Wins War Of The Surfboard Wax

The purpose of this experiment was to find out which brand of surf wax provides the most amount of friction.

The hypothesis predicted that the brand, Sticky Bumps, would provide the most friction but this was not so.

Surf wax is applied to a surfboard’s surface of fiberglass.

It’s very sticky, but hard.

The surfer’s feet press into the wax and it creates friction.

Without surf wax, it would be extremely hard for a surfer to stay o the board without slipping around.

To test if the hypothesis is true or not, an apparatus was built that would lift one end of an artificial surfboard up.

An area on this artificial surfboard was covered with surfboard resin.

The area that was resined is where the wax would be applied.

A sled was built to represent a surfer’s feet and on it was placed a 30-pound weight.

The entire sled was placed on the waxed area of the artificial surfboard. When the artificial surfboard was lifted, the sled would move.

The angle at which the artificial surfboard was at when the sled moved was recorded.

This was done twenty times for each of the three brands of surf wax.

After averaging the trials for each brand of surf wax, it was found that . . .

the brand of surf wax, Wave Tribe Eco Wax, provided the most friction.”

Derek Dodds

Derek Dodds is founder of the world's first ecological surf company Wave Tribe, surfboard shaper, world traveler, author and Mini Simmons enthusiast.

View all posts

1 comment

Leave a Reply

Meet Surfer Derek Dodds

Derek Dodds | Surfer, Shaper, Traveler
I'm Derek Dodds, the guy behind Srfer.com.com. I love surfing, shaping, adventure travel, IPAs, useful gear, and all things related to the sea.