Betrayed by Leukotape

[Eric Fredricksen]

Backpacking in hot weather (85F, up high) earlier this week, I started to get a minor hot spot on my heel, so I put on a 2 or 3 inch strip of Leukotape. But my sock stuck to the tape and yanked it around and I ended up with a half-dollar-sized blister.

Is this known behavior for Leukotape, and what's the remedy? Should I not have reused last year's rewrapping of Leukotape around a straw? I put corn starch on it later and that seemed to help some.

[drowning in spam]

It sticks to my socks too. To prevent it from rolling around, I use more tape to get the ends of the tape well off my sole.

[CW]

I've been using it for several years now and have never had any problems with it sticking to my socks. I'm very careful to make sure it's fully pressed and sealed to my skin.

[Brian Barnes]

rub the tape's edges with a small amount of votive candle wax to keep it from rolling (source text: fixing your feet)… it works!

[Greg Mihalik]

I have incredible success with –

Wash and wipe the affected area plus 1/2" with water, no soap, till clean.
Wipe the area with alcohol to further de-grease.
Apply Tincture of Benzoin to the cleaned area.
Clean your fingers with the alcohol to prevent de-tacking the tape.

Carefully cut the tape, to fit inside it cleaned area, but well beyond the hotspot, handling as little as possible.

Place and rub on from the center out.
Cut away any edges not sticking.

I have had tape stay in place 7+ days, with no release at the edges, 15-20 miles a day, stream crossings, and 80°+ weather.

YMMV.

Edit: w/ Jeff below: yes, my heel. Took about 20 minutes. Once.

[Jeffs Eleven]

I find, if at all possible, wrap the tape back onto itself.

IE- go all the way around your toe, not just over hot spot.

as for OP and probs on heel…. sounds like Greg has it dialed. fiddly, but only fiddly once. better than alternative

[drowning in spam]

To clarify, I meant to describe two things. 1) It would stick to my socks on parts of the tape that were firmly affixed to my skin. That doesn't cause blisters though, just nasty socks. And… 2) The edges seem less likely to roll if I get them off the bottom of my foot. I actually try to get them well up the side of my foot because the compression of my foot, specifically my heel, can cause a blister at the edge of the tape.

So is your problem at the edges or not? If you're having my first problem, then I'd guess that your blister is caused by your sock bunching up on the sticky parts. In that case, I'd try more layers of leuko so you don't notice the bunching as much. Duct tape might work too, but I haven't tried that yet.

[Eric Fredricksen]

Thanks, folks. To clarify, it didn't roll up – just stuck to my socks all over. Sounds like for most people that isn't necessarily a problem. Well, since it seems to be for me, the corn starch seemed to unsticky it pretty well.

[drowning in spam]

The problem you had is the thing I hate most about leukotape. I was wearing full leather boots when I experienced that problem. I haven't needed it since switching to Roclite 370's. What kind of footwear were you using?

[Eric Fredricksen]

Roclite 295's. I was kind of surprised to have trouble with them. Maybe I had them tied too tight.

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