Stop & Go Pocket Tire Plugger Plus CO2 Inflation - Product Evaluation

While tire manufacturers say never patch anything (and who can blame them?), the underbreath mumble is that if you must patch a tire, you should do so from the inside with a permanent patch. That's a lot of work at the side of the road, isn't it? Stop & Go has a better idea: Insert a mushroom plug from the outside; the tire never leaves the rim.

This is a pretty ingenious yet simple deal. First, you ream out the puncture with the provided rasp, then you stick the cone-shaped nozzle of the plugger tool into the hole. Load one pre-moistened mushroom plug into the tool, screw the tool into the nozzle and crank away on the end of the tool with the supplied Allen wrench, which shmooshes the plug through the nozzle and into the tire. Remove plugger tool, et voila, the mushroom is in there. Yank on it to make sure it's seated. Reinflate the tire using supplied CO2 cartridges, trim any excess plug material and away you go.

Officially, Stop & Go adheres to the company line that its plugs are a temporary fix. According to online testimonials, customers have put thousands of miles on tires with this type of plug, no problem. The plugger tool, nozzle and rest of the kit are of such high-quality aluminum and steel construction that it’s hard to see how Stop & Go makes money at this price. Even the 7.5 x 5-inch zippered pouch is nice—and the instruction card is laminated. We hate to be cynical, but the best defense against punctured tires is probably to carry a repair tool so trick you hope you’ll get to use it.