Restrap Tyre Boot Kit

The Restrap Tyre Boot Kit is great for patching cuts or tears in tubed tyres, and when not in use quickly rolls up and tucks away in a pack. The patches are super-tough hypalon, and the included glue keeps them firmly in place – though you need a lot of it to get it to stick.

Restrap's Tyre Boot Kit assumes you already have the necessary tools to sort out a flat tyre, as it doesn't come with necessities like levers or inner tube patches. However, it does the trick with large cuts or tears in your tyres, whether in the tread section or the sidewall.

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The kit, which handily rolls up into itself and secures via a double-sided Velcro strap, is tiny and light enough to easily join your existing flotilla of tyre-fixing accoutrements.

Neatly, the kit is one long piece of hypalon – the super-tough fabric commonly used on bikepacking bags for extra protection – with the patches integrated with the material. Like an Airfix kit, you pull a part off when it's required.

Patches come in different shapes and sizes, and the biggest rectangular one is about 7.5 x 2.5cm, so unless your tyre completely disintegrates you'll have something suitable.

Rolled inside and sitting in its own holster is a simple tube of glue; superglue, to be specific. Provided you remember to pierce the end before you head out (or have a suitably-sized tool for doing it), you're good to go. Cute and convenient as it is, the only downside is the need to find a replacement that's the same size if you want to retain the factory fit.

Application is easy. Just remove the patch from the roll, put the glue on the side you want to apply, and carefully hold it over the damage (inside the tyre, obviously) without getting your fingers stuck. How well it sticks does depend on how clean that spot is, though.

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One of my efforts wasn't particularly clean. The patch stuck, mostly, though not quite on the actual area that was cut. I put some more glue through the outside though, and that seemed to do it. In fairness, as long as it stays in place and covers the actual hole, the inner tube will keep it in place.

Given the excellent abrasion-resistant properties of hypalon, you can assume that once covered, you won't get another puncture in the same area.

Value

£8.99 isn't a massive outlay, in my book, and though Park Tool's Tyre Boot (TB-2) is cheaper at £4.99, it only contains three patches against the Restrap's eight. The advantage of the Park Tool kit, however, is that the patches are self-adhesive, so there's no messing around with glue.

Alternatively, the tried-and-tested method of sticking a plastic fiver inside your tyre would probably do the trick. It costs £5, initially, though you're sure to get that back at the end to spend as you wish, though you may want to wait until you get home to do so.

Overall

Clearly, this is a convenient kit to have and will augment your existing puncture repair kit nicely. It's ideal for terrible tyre damage, and it won't take up much more space in your pack.

Verdict

Neatly packaged, effective kit for patching tyre cuts or tears – expensive but worth it