ThatDogDontHunt
Oscar Meyer Weiner
Ugly white wigwam liner socks. They make my fish belly white legs look tanned.
What do you do about friction blisters?
- Thread starter PBcatfish
- Start date
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I wouldn't want to be walking 9ver rocks or boulders in lycra socks. Not all beach entries being equal and no offence to The Chairman but I don't want Crocs hanging off me either regardless of buoyancy factors, lol.
Fair enough Rose but I believe most of us, certainly I was talking about how to avoid getting the blisters or friction burns in the first place. So, the liveaboard divers that I referenced wearing the duct tape were wearing the tape in places that they knew in advance to be rub spots. My feet used to become hamburger and on longer trips, it could become almost impossible to boot and fin up for the dives (I suffered for my passion). But 20 years ago Burt Jones, a professional dive photographer, told me to get lycra socks. I did and haven't had a blister since. Game changer!!
Rose Robinson
Contributor
Hi PBcatfish,
Reference being given to ''human body friendly'' adhesives found on band-aids and other bandage preparations.
Industrial adhesives found on things like duct tape and other industrial use tape/adhesive products were never intended to be attached to human skin as reaction effects may be adverse.
Tape adhesive is a chemical, not all chemicals are human ''contact'' friendly.
Rose.
Rose Robinson
Contributor
Hi chillyinCanada,
Not sure a response is required on my part. I also suggested socks.
I further recommended that industrial use tapes, with potentially harmful chemicals in the adhesive was not a good idea.
On a slightly different topic, I don't see how being on a liveaboard equates with damaged feet.
Bare feet in a full foot fin on a continuous basis is probably not a good idea. Especially when combined with sand and or coral fragments, because now as well as contact friction blistering, you're adding abrasives into the mix.
Socks/boots comfortable half foot fins with straps seem like a much better plan.
Seems to me, ease of packing is the trade-off for a week full of foot problems, bad idea.
Rose
Here in warm sunny Florida, our sandy beaches allow a comfortable barefoot walk into the water. Also, when boat diving into 80-something degree water, bare feet are a comfortable option that gets better traction on-deck compared to Lycra sox.
This morning I did my first test. Since the same two toes on each foot have historically had the friction blister issue, that gave me 4 test subjects to experiment with. I used a different type of tape on each toe. The tapes I used were:
1) Unknown brand of medical grade adhesive tape that was in my medicine cabinet next to some gauze pads.
2) Tesa brand Duct tape
3) Pro-Gaff brand "gaffers tape" from Pro-Tapes
4) Unknown brand of clear box sealing tape
Both the medical grade tape & box sealing tape came off before the dive was over. The other two lasted & were still aggressively adhesive after the dive, but came off my toes with no problems. The adhesive on the box sealing tape turned cloudy & gooey before it released. The medical tape just didn't stick anymore, but did not get gooey. So far, I have not observed any skin irritation from the various tapes. The dive was a little over an hour in salt water.
Options I intend to try in the future include:
Waterproof version of medical grade tape (if I can find it)
Waterproof band-aids
Blue painter's tape
Trainer's tape
Hockey stick tape
1) Unknown brand of medical grade adhesive tape that was in my medicine cabinet next to some gauze pads.
2) Tesa brand Duct tape
3) Pro-Gaff brand "gaffers tape" from Pro-Tapes
4) Unknown brand of clear box sealing tape
Both the medical grade tape & box sealing tape came off before the dive was over. The other two lasted & were still aggressively adhesive after the dive, but came off my toes with no problems. The adhesive on the box sealing tape turned cloudy & gooey before it released. The medical tape just didn't stick anymore, but did not get gooey. So far, I have not observed any skin irritation from the various tapes. The dive was a little over an hour in salt water.
Options I intend to try in the future include:
Waterproof version of medical grade tape (if I can find it)
Waterproof band-aids
Blue painter's tape
Trainer's tape
Hockey stick tape
Athletic tape (trainer's tape) was designed to be used on skin. I know it will stay on in water if it wraps around to itself, because I've used it when playing water polo.
The premium option is kinesiology tape. You often see it on swimmers and water polo players. One of the KT companies even sponsored the US women's water polo team.
Ana
.
I've been using gel protectors for the last few years. They work great for full foot fins with or without socks.
Used to put all kinds of tape but it only last for one dive and if you're not carefully placing the tape it slips ... or maybe is just me that rush the process, this gel cylinders seem to be a sure thing
Used to put all kinds of tape but it only last for one dive and if you're not carefully placing the tape it slips ... or maybe is just me that rush the process, this gel cylinders seem to be a sure thing
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JBFG
Contributor
I joined the military. Never complained about friction blisters after that. They don’t exist anymore.
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