Tearing a tire sidewall tends to happen when you least expect it. Call it Murphy’s Law, but a torn sidewall is guaranteed to occur at just about the furthest point away from home as possible and likely to a brand new tire. Luckily, BlueCollarMTB collaborator Mike posted back in ‘05 about How To Survive a Torn Tire Casing with the classic dollar bill or energy bar wrapper trick. No doubt, this trick has got more than a few of us out of the woods without walking.

But what to do when you get home? Clearly the empty wrapper or dollar bill is just a crutch, and not a permanent fix to your damaged tire. And while a new tire does solve the problem, you may be able to salvage your current tread with an item that should be in your bathroom cabinet.

If the tear is a manageable size, maybe half an inch long or less, you can sometimes sew the sidewall closed with dental floss of all things. Don’t worry about it being pretty, just be sure to make a fair number of passes with the floss in a bunch of different directions as tires flex in dynamic ways when riding. I’ve done this in the past with great success, extending the life of the tire until the tread is gone, as per usual.