On Feb 22, 10:22*am, Joel wrote:
My work commute is usually 20 miles per day, and I typically have two
panniers, one my laptop/office bag. On the ride home last night I hit a
piece of glass that not only punctured the tube but ripped the tire
open, so in addition to my tube sticking out of the cut the tire's torn
threads were also poking out.

Don't carry a spare tire, but I do usually have a tire boot for such
situations. A piece cut from an old tire works well, but in an
emergency there are lots of alternatives. The most frequently
available is a dollar bill. They are much stronger than regular paper
and hold up for quite a while. Once I only had a $10 handy and I
forgot about it until it eventually deteriorated and caused another
flat hundreds of miles later. Ended up taping the pieces back
together again to use it later at a store. The mylar wrappers from
PowerBars and similar products are also good tire boots and are
frequently carried when riding.