With or Without Tape?

If you disregard the chaos that erupts when discussing membrane or non-membrane boots, taping comes in at a close second.

There is really no right or wrong here; it is up to each individual to learn how their feet work, especially in the heat. I myself always tape my heel and the ball of my foot, as I know I will otherwise always get blisters there. My colleague, on the other hand, never tapes, and he has no problems… with his feet, anyway. You should also consider that what works here in the north during winter does not necessarily work in 30-degree heat.

If lubricating with a fatty ointment works, go with that. But if you need tape, you should tape.

Learn to Tape Yourself

This is something I cannot stress enough: learn to tape your feet yourself. Do not come down without tape (which is expensive) and expect someone else to sacrifice their tape and start taping you. Yes, sometimes it works, but not always, and what do you do then? Well, you suffer if you should be walking with taped feet but aren’t.

Sit down for a couple of evenings and practice taping your feet. If you can’t manage it in ideal conditions, it will be very difficult down there. You might have had a couple of beers too many, and it’s dark and sandy. So practice at home, and practice what you know you need, but also try taping other areas so you have a little idea of how to do it in the dark later.

I myself tape my feet the day before and put on a liner sock and sleep with it on. That way, I don’t have to worry about the tape coming off during the night.

There used to be an excellent YouTube series on taping feet, LG’s Taping School (Tejpskola). Unfortunately, it is not currently available, but I was in contact with LG, and he promised to try to make it available again.

The Norwegian delegation has a good guide, but it seems to be under revision at the moment, so I cannot link to it now.

There is a Difference Between Tape and Tape

This should be obvious, but there is a difference between cheap and expensive tape. Do not buy the cheap kind; if you use tape, buy a high-quality one. It is not worth risking an investment of over €1000 just to try and save a few euros on the tape. And this applies across the board: do not risk a year of training and all the costs just to be foolishly stingy.

Summary

Feet are an art, and we will try to write a guide for both those who tape and those who lubricate in due course.