UKC

any recommendations on finger tape for bouldering. More for protecting pads rather than tendon support? Maybe something that protects but doesn't degrade adhesion to the rock/plastic?

hmmm 

My experience is that bouldering in tape sucks and that if your skin is so ruined that you need tape, you need to let your skin recover. There are the occasional exception, I've taped specifically for sharp lime crimps for example, but generally I think that tape is not an ideal replacement for good tough fresh skin

If you need to tape your tips, just let them rest or they won't recover. Even if it's the last day of a week long Font trip, just go and do a kids circuit or something.

Taped Tips Suck!! 🙂

Superglue is what you need 

I'm sure Metolius used to do these black rubber finger protector things, probably useful on big walls if you damaged or cut your finger but still needed a bit of friction rather than taping - I cant find any online so doubt they make them anymore or were very good but you can still get rubber / silicone ones online, if it's just for 1 finger it might work.

I use Leukotape P, which is a medical spec strapping tape. Mainly for pulley support but great for damaged fingers too. Still doesn't last that long on anything sharp/crimpy and partially shredded fingers will probably fall to bits when removing it but I've yet to find anything better. An old UKC post says Strappal is the same stuff, but is a different colour so I'm not sure. 

yes no doubt you are correct. However the local wall runs its comp over 8 days so to maximise the score many visits are needed. Some of the harder routes are solved towards the end of the week by which time the fingers are getting worn. Its a small improvement but I want to protect my fingers on the routes that don't need sensitivity and then have fintertips left at the end of the week where I will not wear tape. Think that will give me a couple of extra tops.

Love this thread.

"can UKC recommend finger tape for climbing?"

"na, don't use tape, it doesn't work as well as skin. wait for your skin to heal instead".
 

Anyway, for what it's worth I used to use the 'Strappel tape' that got rebranded / adapted by a climbing company as 'Dream tape'. I found slightly thinner tape that works well from l'Ibbz in Fontainebleau and now just use that. It's really good. Nice and thin but good glue that sticks well. The glue isn't as harsh as the Dream tape

Personally, I find all the commonly available tapes (e.g. Strappal, Metolius, Dream Tape) to be much-of-a-muchness.  For me, the biggest issue for performance is having some superglue to make sure it stays-put and does not slip.  Some people glue tape directly to their skin. Personally, I'm wary of that, but using drops of glue where the wraps cross-over makes a tape job much more stable (and a coating of liquid chalk, once the glue is dry, is good for impregnating the tape and making it more grippy).

Climb in marigolds? You never know, they might be really good

Washing up in marigolds definitely helps repair skin but perhaps climbing in them isn't such a good idea 

I got recommended a technique which I’ve used over the years. Take a Thin section of dream tape then add a drop of glue on the fingernail to attach one end of the tape, wrap around once and add a second drop of glue (on top of end of tape) to attach the second bit.

This was the glue i was recommended/use: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gorilla-4044205-Superglue-15g/dp/B003CT4XT0/ref=as...

It has always worked well for worn tips and can last a session depending on the holds used (occasionally it rolls up if there are lots of open drags).

Thanks for the attachment advice. I tried climbing in tape last night and its as described above - a rather pitiful experience. I'm intrigued about the idea of super thin tape though as the problem was that i couldn't commit to slopers not feeling the adhesion to the hold in marginal conditions. Can anyone direct me to a super thin tape?

I was also wondering about sticking rubber to my finger tips ..... that might possibly improve adhesion to the hold at the cost of having to remove the rubber with a scalpel!