Reader Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5

I spent the last 6 months testing every tape and blister preparation I could find. They all promptly peeled off freshly cleaned skin and/or left permanent adhesive deposits on my socks. Kevin Sawchuk recommended Leukotape (LKT1) $8.35 + 5.99 shipping from <wisdomking.com>. Pretreating the skin with tincture of benzoin generally increases any tape’s ability to bond to skin. I found Leukotape to stick well with and w/o this treatment. 40"x1.5" weighs .3oz. I’d give this product a “6” if I could.

Kevin, who aside from being a champion trail runner is also a physician, also gives high marks to the unidirectionally stretchable Kinesio Athletic Tape (also available from wisdom king) which I have not tried.

Edited by Al_T.Tude on 08/13/2006 23:28:03 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

I'm with Al. There is no competition here. Anybody still using duct tape is living in the dark ages. Leukotape P is breathable, stretchy (and thus, form-fitting), and most important, resilient. I put Luekotape P on my heels and toes at the start of a 185 mile trek with a heavy pack and constant wet feet (June in the Arctic), and only after day 5 did it start to show the need to be replaced. I peeled it off and my underlying skin was not macerated (unlike with duct tape).

I like Kinesio as well, but it seems to require pretreatment with Tincture of Benzoin for multi-day resilience.

Edited by ryan on 11/03/2006 22:50:43 MST.

Rating: / 5

Andrew Skurka spoke in Minneapolis today at the Outdoor Expo and I took down his notes on foot care and found some links, including this thread.

He recommends shoes that keep your feet cool (he uses the GoLite Trail (Sun Dragon I believe based upon viewing the shoes online just now) Running Shoes that breath well), street hiking (not the heavier duty) biker wool socks (by Defeet), plus the use of Hydropel (sold by BPL), LuekoTape and if a split of the foot skin occurs, Krazy Glue. I found some interesting links:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/hydropel.html

http://www.andrewskurka.com/GWL/pictures/13_soco/1.php

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E5GKK0/ref=pd_luc_00001B0007YT1QIB000E5GKK0

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_post/3819/32561/forums/thread_display.html

http://vonhof.typepad.com/fixingyourfeet/2007/01/fixing_your_fee.html

http://www.golite-footwear.com/

Edited by marti124 on 04/26/2008 23:38:23 MDT.

Rating: 5 / 5

Although it is listed for preventing blisters, it works great as an ankle wrap. As someone who sprains their ankle rather frequently, I've used regular athletic tape as a preventative measure--pre-taping ankle prior to a hike.

Tried this new tape on a recent hike and it stopped several potential“ankle rolls” from going too far. Even at the 5 day mark, tape was still giving good ankle support –versus the many braces, elastic bandages, etc I've tried in the past.

Pros: Works great as an ankle wrap. Grips 10x better than standard athletic tape and lasts much longer.

Cons: Expensive.

Tip: Ankle Support (Pre-Hike Prep):
•Use vertical strips about 16" long around inside & outside of ankle(going under the foot)
•After one vertical piece is placed apply 2nd tape (about 10”) around the lower back of the ankle--crossing over the 1st tape.
•Repeat the above 2 steps (offsetting the additional tapes about ½”) until you have 3 or more interlaced vertical strips (6 or more pieces of tape total)

Feb 2009 Update:

After many hikes using this tape I can't imagine using anything else. I've left it on for 2 weeks without any sign of a skin rash. With regular athletic tape I would get a rash after about 4 days. I suspect the adhesive in the Leukotape may contain an antiseptic (?). Anyway, this tape is worth it's weight in gold—especially when one is several days from a trailhead.

Edited by Steve on 06/10/2009 19:15:35 MDT.

Rating: 4 / 5

I totally aggree with everyone else's comments on how fantastic this tape is for blister prevention & ankle strapping. The only thing that stops me rating it a "5" is that I've developed an allergy to it (I break out in a really angry red, weepy, insanely itchy rash that lasts weeks - much, much worse than having a blister). Something for folks with sensitive skin to be aware of.
Unfortunately, I've yet to find a hypoallergenic product that comes anywhere near close in performance. If anyone ever does, let me know...

Rating: 3 / 5

I recently completed two back-to-back four day backpacking trips in the Gila Wilderness in NM, and I had occasion to use Leukotape on both legs of the trip.

I found Leukotape easy to work with relative to other tapes in that I was able to, with the judicious use of a pair of folding scissors, get it to lay flat without any ridges or wrinkles on the affected areas. However, the glue "seeped", for lack of a better descriptor, around the edges causing the adjacent toes to adhere to the blistered toe exacerbating the problem.

I tried to use some "Sportslick"to allow the toes to slide by each other, but I think it acted as a solvent allowing the glue to seep out of the pores of the tape, not just around the edges, thus compounding rather than alleviating the problem.

I also tried using regular band-aids as a base and holding them in place with Leukotape. This worked reasonably well, but I still experienced the aforementioned problem of the toes sticking together creating more friction.

Edited by xclimber on 05/19/2009 22:14:31 MDT.

Rating: 1 / 5

Actually I don't like Leukotape sports tape for blister prevention at all.

What you need is something that has a slippery outer surface, so that it slides freely against your sock. This reduces the shear stress on your skin. Cloth tapes have relatively high friction against the sock. Even worse, when the roll of tape gets old, the latex adhesive bleeds through and the tape actually adheres to the sock, making it worse than nothing.

I use Elastoplast brand gel blister dressings. They are expensive at a bit over an Australian dollar each. Also, they don't stick very well, so I always make sure the skin is clean, and stick strips of Leucotape around the edges.

Before I discoved these, I tried sticking patches of plasic bag film or freeze-dried wrapper to my foot with Leucotape strips. A bit time consuming to do, but worked OK.

JamesMc

Edited by JamesMc on 10/11/2009 18:39:17 MDT.