I have often shared information about different types of tape for blister prevention and blister patching. I have my favorites, but am always open to learning about new tapes.
When I first learned about taping, there were only a few commonly used tapes. There was duct tape, Elastikon, and white athletic tape. That was back in the 80s and 90s.
I remember the blister patching job on my feet one of the years I ran Western States. I left the Rucky Chucky aid station with a wad of gauze taped to the ball of my foot with white athletic tape that made it hard to walk or run. Several years later at the Gibson Ranch 72 Hour I had a duct tape patch between two toes.
Now things have changed. Elastikon is hardly ever used. Duct tape is still used by some. White athletic tape is not popular but some still use it. Micropore paper tape is popular. HypaFix (or Coverall) is fairly popular. Leukotape P has a good following. KinesioTex and other kinesiology tapes like RockTape, StrengthTape and KT tape have become very popular. Outside the United States, other tapes are often used too. For example, in the United States, HypaFix is the same as Coverall, but it’s also called Fixomull in other countries.
Sometimes certain tapes are used because of the conditions like heat, water, humidity, sand, and the length of the event. Other times tapes are used based on what’s available at an aid station.
So my question is, “What’s your favorite?”
I have a two-question survey that I would appreciate your participation in getting good data. The first question is What is your favorite tape for pretaping for blisters prevention? The second question is What is your favorite tape for blister patching?
There are only nine answers to choose from so the survey will take only a few minutes. The list of possible answers is the same for each question.
Here’s the link to take the survey: What’s Your Favorite Tape survey.
Thank you for helping compile the data. In several weeks. I’ll share the answers.
