nahhhh i can tell your brainwashed into swix but really its all the same stuff. dont try to convince someone one wax is better than the other. Holmenkol, Toko, Swix, Dakine and Dominator all offer a great range of waxes, and each brand has a versatile everyday skiing wax. For an everyday skier, just grab a big chunk of all temp wax from your local shop, whatever brand it may be. If youre racing then thats a different story, but ive never been in a race where the winner was decided by who had Swix or not or one more overlay than the next guy. World cup, maybe, but usually its the skier who wins the race, not brand names. As for an iron, dont cheap out, but dont go over the top. Ive got a $60 Holmenkol iron that i prefer to my coaches $150 Swix. Buy what you like and what suits your needs...