Best tape for foot/toe care

Duct tape falls off far too quickly so I now use Leukotape. I cut little circles of it and put those circles onto bits of waxy-like paper (e.g. the kind of paper that stickers or shipping labels come on). I then carry three or four of those in my first aid kit.

I second the Leukotape. It was the only thing that stayed on both my feet and my boyfriend's feet while doing the Wonderland Trail. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the adhesive would bleed through and my socks would stick. I recommend a little ointment like Aquaphor, or powder if you prefer, just something to put on the outside of the tape to keep it from sticking to your socks. I got a blood blister on my big toe from the sock sticking to the tape, then the tape being pulled on by the sock as I traveled. Despite having carefully broken in boots and hiking every week to warm up, I still ended up with large expanses of my left foot taped up at one point on the trail! Should have taken a picture.

Leukotape sold here at BPL worked well for me on my last trip. Wrapped a cut finger with it before 4 day trip. Finger was still wrapped when I got home. Cut was well protected.

Trip involved wetness from rain, sweat and sea water, climbing muddy ropes, gathering and breaking up firewood, climbing over trees, rocks, etc.

+4 for leukotape

Kris,

Something else you might want to carry in conjunction to the leukotape is kinesio tape.

Four of us used it on our Tahoe Rim Trip last year.

I have never used leukotape before, but for things like toes/digits, the kinesio tape worked well and stayed on all day, sometimes longer.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_0_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kinesio+tape&sprefix=kinesio+tape

I plan on hiking the JMT this year and will carry some of both.

-Tony

A relevant Prior Thread.

Good quality cloth medical tape! After reading all of the rave reviews of Luekotape on this site I decided to try it, and it thrashed my socks and caused new blisters in adjacent areas of my feet due to it's gooey-ness after a few miles. Another negative is the hassle of getting it off after your hike or just to do first aid will rip skin off! You almost have to let it wear off on it's own, however long that may take! I agree with a previous poster on duct tape falling off too fast and not letting your skin breath.

As a professional ballet dancer, my feet are always in a state of disrepair – constantly splitting, tearing etc… I would recommend using 'Elastikon'. There are two methods that I use as pretty much every day.

First of all, you need to prep the piece of tape. Cut to size and make sure to trim off the 'salvage' edge. You also want to round every corner so there's no sharp angles. Round corners will help keep the tape on with less chance of 'catching' something and coming undone. Make sure that the skin is clean and dry or else it will be a lot less likely to stay on…

So the first method involves a lighter. (It's pretty hardcore and what I would do if I was on trail). hold the tape using the ends of scissors and use the lighter to literally melt the adhesive on the bottom. Once it is pretty warm, put it on your foot, stretching it lightly. Once it's on, you can run the lighter over the tape back and forth to continue melting the adhesion. Once it's cooled, it should be pretty well on there.

The second method is to use a product called "Tuf-Skin". You simply spray it on, let it dry just a bit and put the Elastikon on. It will stay on. Since more surface area of your foot will have the adhesive sprayed on, it's prone to get lots of other pieces of dirt/sock lint….

Some other tapes that I like are Elastiplat, Light Plast Pro & MicroPore tape (3M – Hypoallergenic). I would stay away from Kinesio as that tape is used more for muscle & joint therapy in assisting with placement/alignment, etc…

I hope this helps save someone's day :) Feel free to ask any questions should you have any…

It also helps to try to get rid of all super hard callused areas as where they meet the supple skin is where it is prone to blister and/or split.