[pct-l] duct tape: a sticky issue

[Birgitte Jensen <bjensen4@juno.com>]

>Re Duct tape: Does anyone else think that this stuff has been getting 
>less sticky through the years?     Carl Mears

   Carl, my personal experience is that it seems stickier - but it
doesn't stick _to_ anything worth a sh*t. I wasn't at all surprised to
read the news blurb that it's lousy for ducts (remember that?), but it
doesn't seem as good as I remember for anything else either. I thought
for awhile that my rolls of tape were too old (they were), but a newer
roll turns out to be crummier than even they are...

    I stay out of blister debates because I don't tend to get blisters,
nyah nyah <g>. I attribute it to the fact that I hardly ever wear shoes
(which is bad for orthopaedic reasons, but), and I'm fairly good about
padding, hygiene,stopping to adjust socks/whatever if I feel
uncomfortable on the trail, and so on.
     One thing I tried a couple times when I hadn't been hiking regularly
and had developed baby-skin "town feet", was to soak my feet in a strong
black tea solution (on a taxidermist's advice). The tannic acid tends to
toughen the hide (and dry it out excessively if you over-soak). A benefit
for me was that it colored ("tanned") my feet slightly, which enabled me
to hike in shorts again. I wear skirts/pumps alot in the Real World, and
usually have to hike in long pants to avoid a weird "white sock" effect
tan-line... 
      I also moisturize with hoof cream - it works on horses' brittle
hooves so... Another poster told me she's also tried it, but still
prefers vasoline, so who knows what's "best" - whatever works, I guess. 

      Your chafing between big toe and sounds like the kind of foot
anatomy that's involved in bunion (here we go again <g>) formation - the
joint dislocates, and among other things, the big toe leans onto the next
toe - people get corns there that way. You might check out literature on
that; do you have a wide-enough toe-box in your boots, for instance? Most
of it's hereditary, unfortunately, but podiatrists are pretty savvy about
threatment and prevention if possible.            bj

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