Toe tape & the Black Swan

Anyone in the MP universe ever taped their toes prior to lacing up their shoes? After watching The Black Swan (ballet movie/thriller) I began thinking whether or not this might provide further support on dime edges and/or cracks. Or, would doing this hinder "feel"?

I've never done it.

Ballet is a very different strain on your toes. When on point, the weight travels up the tips of your toes, through your tarsals and all those little bones, and up through the ankle and legs.

Your toes are not designed to do this, so the lateral stability of the knuckle joints is poor, hence the need to tape.

Climbing puts the strain, albeit much higher than normal walking, on the pads of your toes, which is more natural and stable.

I do chalk my feet if its hot, though

I always tape my big toes and one Pinky.
Having one foot slightly larger than the other my right foot has been crushed for years. My pinky toe is permanently mangled and stuck under the toe next to it. But it was worth it.
My big toe also requires tape to keep me out of pain. The skin pinches against the nail and I give myself these pedicures with a metal file to round the nails so that is not as bad.
My best fit I ever had is when I had two different sized shoes.
There have been trips when my feet hurt worse than the rest of my body and the drive home was so painful.

i have tape on my toes. damn approach shoes gave me blisters!
it stays on for days until the buggers dry out. . .
as far as more edging power, ya either got it or ya don't!

The bigger question is why were you watching the Black Swan?

Dow Williams wrote:The bigger question is why were you watching the Black Swan?

Probably had something to do with a certain scene between Ms. Portman and Ms. Kunis...

Dow Williams wrote:The bigger question is why were you watching the Black Swan?

i'm thinking it's probably the same, yet slightly different reason that you watched brokeback mountain...

just kidding, of course.

PTZ wrote:I always tape my big toes and one Pinky. Having one foot slightly larger than the other my right foot has been crushed for years. My pinky toe is permanently mangled and stuck under the toe next to it. But it was worth it. My big toe also requires tape to keep me out of pain. The skin pinches against the nail and I give myself these pedicures with a metal file to round the nails so that is not as bad. My best fit I ever had is when I had two different sized shoes. There have been trips when my feet hurt worse than the rest of my body and the drive home was so painful.

yup! i always tape the second toe on my right foot to prevent a perpetual blister from my big toe.

slim wrote: i'm thinking it's probably the same, yet slightly different reason that you watched brokeback mountain... just kidding, of course.

that was a fantastic western as I recall....

As for the movie,,,I'm hoping there is an NC-17 version out there somewhere.....

Jon H wrote: Probably had something to do with a certain scene between Ms. Portman and Ms. Kunis...

^That.

My daughter is a ballerina, and constantly tapes her feet. I took the idea from her when I got a blister on my heel once. The adhesive in the tape got on the inside of the shoe and was a mess until it finally wore off.

Compared to ballet shoes even the tightest climbing shoes are almost comfortable to wear. Almost.

But if you tape your toes, they'll eventually fuse together. (one of the other memorable scenes in Black Swan. Also, how to deal with a hangnail or split cuticle!)

That was one trippy movie as to what , who, when the scenes were happening. Deserved the Academy awards it won.

for the record, i tape my pinky and ring toe together on my left foot (with moleskin shims between the 2 toes) when i crack climb. as for brokeback mountain, i've never seen the movie but i've heard its a good movie. if ben faber ever gets married, i'll bring it as a gift for his bachelor party.

anybody out there ever lived through a brokeblack canyon experience?(aka getting benighted with your buddy spooning you on a tiny ledge about 2000 feet up). i have a friend or 2 that has, sounds pretty memorable.

I tape some toes because the nails dig into the sides of other toes and cause issues. I don't think it would make difference in support.

Dow Williams wrote:The bigger question is why were you watching the Black Swan?

For the babe on babe action!

Nick Rhoads wrote:I tape some toes because the nails dig into the sides of other toes and cause issues. I don't think it would make difference in support.

I had all my toe nails permanently removed, turned out to be a grand decision, whether in ice boots or climbing shoes....the toes themselves look and feel better than they ever have as well....

Dow Williams wrote: I had all my toe nails permanently removed...

How does that work? Between rock climbing and hockey, I've had more black and blue toenails fall completely off than I can count, but they always grow back?

You have a doc (usually a podiatrist) inject the nail bed w/ an acid that kills off the cells that produce the nail. That's after they've cut the nail itself off.
The nails are pretty handy for protecting the toes so for some folks it's a great solution but some people really don't fair well not having the hard candy coating over the tops of the little piggies.

I have a bit of my big toenail removed on both sides after having had repeated, nasty, ingrown nails. For me it's worked quite well.
Oh and lastly there are those folks with robust toenails that survive the acid treatment.

The things you learn on MP...thanks.