the desired diameter and to provide a smooth outer surface fig8 shows an alternative embodiment of a guidewire having a distal section 215 the guidewire includes a reinforcing member 250 disposed on a tapered portion 242 of the core wire 214 it is therefore contemplated that the reinforcing member 250 may be located on a portion of the core wire 214 having a variable cross section the tapered portion 242 is located between proximal region 240 and distal region 244 distal region 244 may be of a circular cross section or may be ribbon shaped outer polymer layer 270 may be disposed over at least a portion of the distal region 215 alternatively a coil could overlay the reinforcing member 250 as in fig2 fig9 shows an alternative embodiment of a distal region 315 of a guidewire the guidewire includes a core wire 314 having a continuous taper from a proximal tapered portion 342 through a distal tapered portion 344 to the distal end 317 of the core wire 314 a reinforcing member 350 is disposed on at least a portion of the tapered portion 342 344 an outer polymer member 370 extends over at least a portion of the tapered portion 342 344 and preferably extends to a proximal portion 340 of the core wire 314 other embodiments of the invention incorporate similar elements of the invention in additional configurations additional figures have been included to further describe the invention however selected embodiments depicted in the drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the invention for example fig1 combines a reinforcing member comprising a tubular.