Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN

You have done more than enough. I carry two tubes on a bike tour, and a small pack of self-adhesive patches.

The self adhesive patches do not reliably work for me for more than a few months, but they work long enough to get me home. At home I can peal them off and glue on a patch with glue.

I have only had one puncture on a tour. But I also had a valve stem partially tear off of a tube, that is something you can't fix. Thus, I carry the second tube in case one tube became unusable I would still have another.

A few notes:

• When you pull a tube out of a tire, make sure no dirt gets into the tire, a grain of sand can cause a puncture in a tube miles later.
• If your tires are dirty, having a pair of disposable gloves like medical staff use can come in handy. I keep a pair with my spare tubes. Pre-covid, when I asked at the dentist or doctor office if I could have a few pair for road emergencies on my bike, they were always happy to give me a few pair, but I suspect that stuff is in short supply still so I never ask now
• If you have the tube valve stem on the wheel at the same place as the tire label, after you pull the tube out of a tire, if you put plenty of air in the tire with the pump you can usually tell were the puncture was. And then you can line up that spot on the tube with the spot on the tire which makes it easier to find if there is a piece of broken glass or something in the tire that cause the flat. There are two possible places on the tire when you do that, flip over the tube to find the other spot on the tire to look.If I think of any more thoughts, I will add them.