Newbie question and patching

[MomOnBike]

OakLeaf sez:

After you run out of those, 20 miles from anywhere, an hour and a half drive from anyone who knows you, and outside of cell range, do you want to fix your tube the old fashioned way, or do you want to walk?

This is precisely the reason my father insisted that I learn to patch a tube before he'd let me learn to ride a bike. It's a safety issue as much as anything.

Also, a properly patched tube does not have a hole. It has a patch that is probably more airtight than the original tube.

[Eden]

I carry a patch kit - since I only carry one tube. I have patched flats and I have ridden the tubes with absolutely no problems. They don't feel funny, nor are they more prone to re-flatting. The smallest patches you can find work the best with skinny road tubes.

[lph]

I patch! Out on the road I switch tubes, because it's faster. But once I'm home I patch, and that's my new spare. I do 3 patches before calling it a day. I also don't patch if a new patch ends up overlapping an old patch, that's too bulky for me. I've never had patches fail. But I like the old-fashioned glue+vulcanized rubber ones.

I learned a handy trick recently to keep track of where the hole is, btw. Once it's located draw a BIG cross over it with a felt-tip pen, instead of a little circle or something. When you sand the tube down a little and especially once the glue is on you can't see details around the hole, but you can still follow the lines you drew and estimate.