Cheap-Ass Tools: Camel Tire Repair Kit
By J.R. Bluett
If time isn’t an issue with your flat tire, and if you already own an air compressor with a standard air chuck, then this $5 kit will let you repair six tires. In addition to being cheap-ass, these kits won’t send your tires out of balance enough to notice, and they provide a permanent fix.
If money’s no object, you might prefer higher-quality versions of this kit which include an upgraded needle with a pistol grip, for pushing in the plugs, and a rasp to rough up the hole for better adhesion and a better seal. If you puncture your tires on a regular basis, you can get refills pretty easily.
Camel Tire Repair Kit [Plews & Edelmann]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]
May 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I have the “money’s no object” version of this kit. Has proves quite useful and paid for itself in time saved several times over. Even though Sam’s Club (where I bought my tires at) does repairs for free, it is often 2+hours at my club to have something as simple as a nail/screw removed from a tire and patched/plugged. With the kit, 5 mins in my driveway is all I need to fix it, and I have never had a problem with a plug backing out or leaking air. Teh rasp is necessary at times as well. In order for this to work properly, you need to have a hole all the way through the tire, and sometimes, if you hit a shorty nail or tack, it doesn’t penetrate all the way through, but dies just enough for a leak. The rasp is pointy enough that with a few whacks from a hammer or even a good press of the hand, it can create the hole you need to put in the plug. Good to keep around for lawn mower tires, wheelbarrow, etc.. I have never used on a bike tire though, but I guess it would work…
May 27th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I hate these things. About 50% of the time the stupid plug is slowly “slurped” into the hole immediately after installation for some unknown/frustrating reason…
May 28th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
arg, i need to get one of these. every time i see it in the store I tell myself I should, yet somehow dont. last time i had a flat, i went to the nearest service station and the guy pulled out one of these kits and fixed it in about 1.35 minutes - including pumping it back up to pressure. it’s been fine since (~8 months).
May 28th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
It wouldn’t work on a bike tire because they use tubes underneath the tire.
June 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Single use. I usually need at least three tries to get the rubber strip in the right place without ripping it to shreds. Then the solvent in the cement evaporates before I need it again.
June 15th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Jon,
In that case you might take a look at some of the slightly more expensive versions of the same thing. I’ve seen some that a refill pack of 24 lasted more than a year, we ran out of the strips before they went bad. (A riding lawnmower and a honey locust, big thorns.)
October 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I agree, partially, with the single use comment.
I keep a plug kit in my truck along with a 12v compressor.
I also keep several *unopened* packs of the plugs themselves because they dry out once you open the pack.
Its very difficult to force the plug into the tire properly but I’ve found that if I roll the truck forward a little so the hole is on the side rather than the top I can lay on the ground and get leverage to push it in. The rasp is a must in order to roughin up the hole so the glue will bond properly.