This Product Makes Blisters a Thing of the Past

Like any seasoned backpacker, I’ve had my fair share of blisters. I’ll always remember a particularly egregious one I got on an ascent of my first Colorado 14er, Mt. Harvard, at the age of 16. The monstrosity spanned the entire length of my heel, protruding a good centimeter out from my foot. I affectionately called it “Little Harvard,” and my trip leaders bound it up in an exorbitant amount of gauze, moleskin, and tape. When they were finished, my foot could barely fit in my boot.

Since then, I’ve gotten better at blister prevention, developing a sixth sense for the first inklings of a hot spot and adjusting my footwear as needed. But on long days, I’m still prone to blisters, and as a result, I’ve tried all manner of treatment techniques and products: duct tape, gel cushions, pre-cut moleskin, and sheets of it that I cut in the field to fit the affected area. Many of these work well, but they come with tradeoffs. Breaking out medical shears to trim moleskin in the field takes time and results in extra waste. Duct tape leaves behind a sticky residue and is far from comfortable. Gel cushions are pricey and don’t last long. So when an orthopedic PA friend introduced me to a product I hadn’t tried last winter, it changed my blister care routine for good.

It was the first day of a five-day backcountry ski trip, which involved a mileslong skin on a flat road into our hut. If you ski tour, you know that flat skinning is way harder on the feet than going uphill. We all arrived at the hut with angry red sores forming on the balls of our feet. That’s when my friend brought out a roll of Leukotape P.

Designed for immobilizing injured joints and repositioning the patella, Leukotape is much stronger than standard medical tape. It’s also super sticky—the extra strong adhesive stays put, and is more comfortable on the skin without leaving behind a gluey residue like duct tape. On our ski trip, my friend’s tape job from day one lasted all five days, even after daylong ski tours and daily trips to the sauna. With other products, I’ve often found myself redressing blisters throughout a backpacking trip. Not so with Leukotape: It never rolls up at the edges or bunches inside my shoe. I set it and forget it, and the tape stays put for days on end. When it’s time to take it off, the tape still peels easily and painlessly away from skin.

Plus, it’s effective. The flexible, slightly stretchy fabric allows you to create a tight barrier over the skin, even over contoured areas—no annoying bunching or creasing like you might get with duct tape. The result is lower-profile than moleskin or cushioned pads, so it won’t affect the fit of your footwear. I find that the tape still provides ample protection and eliminates painful rubbing altogether.

The tape is an inch and a half wide—wider than most medical tapes—and tears easily into strips that accommodate most foot blisters. I’ve said goodbye to the days of fiddling with scissors on the side of the trail to cut a perfect oval of moleskin.

I also love how light and packable Leukotape is; I roll some around my sunscreen stick and hand sanitizer bottle so it’s always handy. Unlike specialized blister treatment solutions, it’s also multi-purpose, a boon for ultralighters. It’s strong enough for simple gear repairs or other first aid applications like joint immobilization or support (that is, after all, what it’s intended for). A 15-yard roll is $13 on Amazon. Since it’s so long lasting, that roll will last you years. Leukotape replaces moleskin, duct tape, and ace bandages all in one. I’ll never hit the trail without it again.