Punctures are just one of those things that can't be predicted. Some people seem to get a lot but I've only ever had 8 that I can remember (amounts to about 1 per 100,000kms) but only two were easily fixed and they were on tubeless tyres.

Reading the Dave Lomax lightweight kit list reminds me just how much stuff you need to carry to cover every eventuality. I've carried a can of slime type product from time to time and used it in the hope that it'll get me or someone else home without all the hassle of repairing/replacing the tube, but the can is usually past its sell by date and has never worked for me except on wheelbarrows. So you need to have the spanners to get the wheel off and undo the security bolts, really good tyre levers, new tubes, puncture repair kit, foot pump or compressor and CO2 as a back up and probably some means of patching the inside of the tyre if it's a bad cut. All this amounts to a lot of extra weight.

So are mousses a fit and forget solution? They're quite expensive, don't last very long and are apparantly a pig to fit but is it worth the effort for long off road trips. What are they like to ride on? Most teams use them for rallyes but then you hear reports that they overheat and are replaced every day which is fine if someone else is doing it (and paying for it)

Anyone used Tireballs?