Rex Grip Tape

[turnfarmer]

Never heard of this before PacificNomad mentioned it. Sounds pretty cool. Can someone compare it to aggressive waxless patterns like on Altai Koms/Voile BC skis?

[fisheater]

Pacificnomad claimed to use it in slush and ice, so I am interested.
I have some tins of Start Oslo that are really good in wet, but there is klister in the wax. Even scraped clean, it makes colder waxes applied over it, stickier than they would be.
I’m going to my goto wax supplier’s webpage. I know they stock it.

[blitzskier]

interesting , gave me a brain fart idea, has anyone ever created a flexible plastic like scale pattern which one to install into and old alpine ski? i guess mill down the center surface section and glue it into the ski?

[fisheater]

I looked up Rex Grip Tape and found it at my go to supplier Pioneer Midwest.
It is a tar formulation, I imagine similar to Rex Universal Tar. However one significant difference Rex Universal Tar wax is for -1 to -25 C, I find if best below 25 F, and it is my general go to wax below 25 F, I don’t worry whether it’s Swix Blue or Green, I just use Rex Universal.
The Grip Tape is +5 to -20C. I’m going to order some. If it’s similar to Rex Universal Wax it will scrape clean fine, however I use the Swix metal scraper, your mileage may vary with a plastic scraper.
Once I use it, the big determination will be what temperature range it works for me. Will it scrape easily? If it doesn’t grip well enough, will it scrape quickly and cleanly enough to allow for X-skin application?
I’ll report, I’m sure I will have warm snow conditions to test. A bigger question is will I have enough snow long enough to feel like experimenting?

[JB TELE]

I looked up a youtube video on its application. Is this basically just grip wax that's applied with a tape?

[fisheater]

@JB TELE To me application is irrelevant. While I have tried other warmer temperature tar based waxes, I have not used a warmer temperature Rex tar based wax. While I find Rex Universal kick wax to work best at slightly cooler temperatures than indicated on the label, Rex universal is rated to +5 C. If it is reliably useful between Swix Blue and klister or X-skin it would be very useful indeed. I use 4 waxes in that range Vaughti Pro White, which is superb at the lower end of that range. Swix Violet, I have tried both kind of meh, work sometimes, Swix Red/Silver, I don’t bother with Swix Red. Start Oslo Violet which works well, but has some clean up issues, it really requires a solvent wipe. Oh, and I have some Start Blue Oslo, that may get a try on the colder end of that range when the Vaughti Pro White isn’t getting it.
If Rex Universal Grip tape works as well in a warmer temperature range,as Rex Universal grip wax works at colder temperatures, it’s a big deal for simplified wax kits.

[JB TELE]

That does sound very useful.
I stay away from any kick wax warmer than blue because I frequently need skins for the moderate terrain I like to explore and I'm not into XC skiing on forest roads.

[turnfarmer]

interesting , gave me a brain fart idea, has anyone ever created a flexible plastic like scale pattern which one to install into and old alpine ski? i guess mill down the center surface section and glue it into the ski?

I bought a pair of Fischer fish scale skins that I want to do this with. After Fischer discontinued them I found a pair for like 30$.

Not sure how to mill out the ski though.

[blitzskier]

interesting , gave me a brain fart idea, has anyone ever created a flexible plastic like scale pattern which one to install into and old alpine ski? i guess mill down the center surface section and glue it into the ski?

I bought a pair of Fischer fish scale skins that I want to do this with. After Fischer discontinued them I found a pair for like 30$.

Not sure how to mill out the ski though.

post some pics please...
I would use a metal straight edge ruler clamped to the ski, and a fresh carpet knife, should penetrate the p-tex, cut across the plastic base, then peel it away, clean up with a small sharp chisle, save the piece you removed and use as template

[Xixi]

Hi, just getting set up on some Asnes Amundsen BCs (still waiting on the Alfa Kikut boots, coming from Varuste), and have decided to go with Start Grip Tape (at least to start, especially with temps warming up) after being out of waxing since early 00's. I'll be using these for in-, out-of track and trailbreaking. I've been obsessing probably too much, but I had an idea about determining the wax pocket for grip tape. Basically do the same at-home method of determining the initial hard wax kick zone: standing on both skis evenly weighted, except instead of using a piece of paper, which would determine the hard wax pocket, I would use a short strip of the grip tape, with the peel-off cover still on, held perpendicular to the length of the ski, then run it forward until it catches to determine the front end of application, then rearward until it catches that way, or the end of the heel at the furthest. This would give a more accurate estimation of where the kick zone would actually be with how thick the tape is. These skis have a full wax pocket, not 1.5-camber. Thoughts on this? Also has anyone had any success shortening up the tape length once it's been applied? I would think it wouldn't go well trying to accurately apply the wax remover as it would probably contaminate some part of the tape you wanted to keep on. Thanks for your help and thoughts!