Review: DPS Phantom Permanent Base Glide Treatment

[dovski]

That's a difference of roughly 1 in 10,000. No wonder we don't detect it!



And I think I would be part of the demographic, too. And many others. I could be wrong, but my limited experience tells me that I notice the wax, not so much in the downhill speed, but rather in overall usability: traversing flats, cat-tracks, even variable snow where you might hit a sticky patch while gliding.

To your point, because we tend to be (more or less) on the edges, a tune is a lot more relevant, otherwise. Another great reason for this product (or similar)

I think it really depends on snow conditions. Spring skiing with soft sticky snow, a good wax makes a world of difference and edges not so much. In the PNW most of the season feels like spring skiing to me so I end up waxing quite often so the skis run smooth even through the mashed potatoes and Cascade concrete we enjoy so much. Edges are important too but so is a nice smooth glide. With the DPS product I am currently not getting that and based on what I saw and a few other posts do not think it cured properly.

 

[Andy Mink]

Part of that is weight, but not all of it.

Gravity is my friend!

I definitely felt an improve mentioned from an unwaxed ski to the Phantom treated skis on traverses and low angle greenies. Coming down the hill, making turns, and concentrating on form and terrain it's not as noticeable. Again, it's not for those who dig doing their own waxing or if you have a big quiver or if you buy and sell skis a lot.

 

[Monique]

Again, it's not for those who dig doing their own waxing or if you have a big quiver or if you buy and sell skis a lot.

Yeah. Interestingly, this makes it a bad match for me but maybe a good match for my husband - if the treatment holds up. And I'd want to have a pro shop do the treatment, I think, although I guess I could put the skis out on the deck. Not like we don't get enough sun.

Where it might be very interesting is for my AT skis, which don't get used regularly, and which I always seem to want on short notice.

So with the DPS treatment, I assume that you're "guaranteed" not to get base burn from dry bases. I wonder.

 

[VinceF]

As one of the people who has had the opportunity to get on this ski technology, I'm at a loss for words. Not because it doesn't work but because I can't really tell a difference between the skis with and without Phantom.
Conditions that I was able to ski on these skis varied from early morning groomers, to chalky blown in patches, to lower elevation low angle springlike snow.
I wish I could tell you something amazing happened, or that it stood out from other skis with traditional wax, but it didn't. It just skied well and performed well on all types of snow, even the spring like yucky snow, in the trees below Wizard at Mt Rose.

I am thinking that is the whole idea. If you can't tell the difference between Phantom and a freshly waxed ski that seems like a good thing to me.

 

[VinceF]

I have my skis freshly Phantomized. I did the base grind first. Applied part A and then did the dance of moving the skis from the shadows to the sun several times during the day. Ran out of sun so let them sit overnight with just the first packet of stuff on them. Next day I applied part B and then put them on the roof of the house to stay in the sun for the whole day. No dancing with the shadows from the trees. They are now corked and brushed but haven't seen snow yet. I usually wax about every 5 - 10 times skiing. As someone has previously posted, I notice the benefits of wax on the cat tracks and flats, not so much on a nice powder slope. I will be paying attention the the glide on the flats. If I do not notice any difference I will take that as a positive sign.

 

[Andy Mink]

I am curious about the amount of goo that comes in the package. It says it's enough for one pair of skis but there's a big surface difference between a 160 cm slalom and a 185cm fatty powder pair. For those who applied did you have excess?

 

[nay]

" The subject was if the product might be targeted to the general population of women.

Yes, but not for waxing...skis. It just seemed to have more appeal that way in the packaging and branding.

Phantom. Never wax again.

Cures in the sun over three hours with two applications. Brilliant.

 

[dovski]

Yes, but not for waxing...skis. It just seemed to have more appeal that way in the packaging and branding.

Phantom. Never wax again.

Cures in the sun over three hours with two applications. Brilliant.

There is a spa near my house that had a groupon for laser hair removal. Their tag line was also never wax again

 

[dovski]

I have my skis freshly Phantomized. I did the base grind first. Applied part A and then did the dance of moving the skis from the shadows to the sun several times during the day. Ran out of sun so let them sit overnight with just the first packet of stuff on them. Next day I applied part B and then put them on the roof of the house to stay in the sun for the whole day. No dancing with the shadows from the trees. They are now corked and brushed but haven't seen snow yet. I usually wax about every 5 - 10 times skiing. As someone has previously posted, I notice the benefits of wax on the cat tracks and flats, not so much on a nice powder slope. I will be paying attention the the glide on the flats. If I do not notice any difference I will take that as a positive sign.

Hey Vince, I did the same as you along with the sun dance. curious what your bases looked like after curing each time. In my case the Phantom did not appear to dry or evaporate. I ended up wiping a ton of fluid off my skis after each cure. Curious if you had a similar experience.

 

[dovski]

I am curious about the amount of goo that comes in the package. It says it's enough for one pair of skis but there's a big surface difference between a 160 cm slalom and a 185cm fatty powder pair. For those who applied did you have excess?

my experience was that their was plenty of product in each pack to cover even the largest skis. I think that you could even cover two smaller skis with a single pack

 

[fatbob]

I think everyone might be doing the wrong comparison - not freshly waxed vs freshly dps'ed but at 30 days unwaxed vs 30 days dps on similar skis. I know if I'm travelling I'll go 2 or 3 weeks without wax and don't find myself thinking the skis need a wax.

 

[dovski]

I think everyone might be doing the wrong comparison - not freshly waxed vs freshly dps'ed but at 30 days unwaxed vs 30 days dps on similar skis. I know if I'm travelling I'll go 2 or 3 weeks without wax and don't find myself thinking the skis need a wax.

DPS claims that Phantom performs as well if not better than universal wax, so that is my comparison point. They also claim that you need to ski in DPS, so in theory performance should improve after a couple of runs. In my case I did not have that improvement and my skis were quite sluggish. In talking to DPS it sounds like the Sun in the PNW which had a UV factor of 1 was not strong enough to properly cure my skis so the Phantom did not take DPS was very good about this and is sending me a replacement and has offered to connect me with one of their techs to talk through the proper application process and conditions. They are currently testing indoor solutions using UV lights, so I am going to hold off until those are ready and try that as I think it will be more predictable than Seattle weather.

 

[dovski]

I think everyone might be doing the wrong comparison - not freshly waxed vs freshly dps'ed but at 30 days unwaxed vs 30 days dps on similar skis. I know if I'm travelling I'll go 2 or 3 weeks without wax and don't find myself thinking the skis need a wax.

If you are traveling for 2-3 weeks and skiing pretty hard I recommend taking some F4 paste from swix, not the same as a proper hotwax, but something you can apply quickly that works quite well.

 

[François Pugh]

I recommend taking some wax, a brush, a scaper, a vise set, and one of these

 

[mdf]

Alright, now you are poaching the portable tuning setup thread. Do we have to pull your pass?

 

[James]

I know if I'm travelling I'll go 2 or 3 weeks without wax and don't find myself thinking the skis need a wax.

Dude, just get the DPS stuff. It can only be better than that.

 

[Sibhusky]

Dude, just get the DPS stuff. It can only be better than that.

As long as it cures correctly, it seems.

I think we need more real world experience with this first. These are $100 kits. Which is money wasted if you don't have the right sun, or who knows what other problems? We so far have a sample size of 4-5 people here? And one has an issue. Not just a "didn't improve anything" issue, it has made the skis worse. Personally, I'd go without wax rather than risk my skis at this point.

 

[Monique]

As long as it cures correctly, it seems.

I think we need more real world experience with this first. These are $100 kits. Which is money wasted if you don't have the right sun, or who knows what other problems? We so far have a sample size of 4-5 people here? And one has an issue. Not just a "didn't improve anything" issue, it has made the skis worse. Personally, I'd go without wax rather than risk my skis at this point.

I'm not as worried about wasting money on the treatment as I am about the long term impact on the skis. Well, medium term, as I won't keep them for a decade.

 

[KingGrump]

Sounds more and more like the software industry - beta testing with liveware in the real world.

 

[dovski]

I'm not as worried about wasting money on the treatment as I am about the long term impact on the skis. Well, medium term, as I won't keep them for a decade.

To be clear I don't think it has damaged the skis, it just did not perform as intended and certainly did not perform as well as a waxed ski. I am going to give it another try once they come up with the indoor method of curing that I can fully control. In the meantime I am fortunate to have other skis in my quiver that I wax regularly

The science behind Phantom makes sense and while I do not think it will stop me from waxing my skis (once I get it to cure properly), I probably will not wax them as often. Family of 5 with 12 pairs of skis that get waxed regularly, so skipping a wax here or there without losing to much glide would be a good thing