Originally Posted by onetwentyeight
For what its worth, I remember reading somewhere It's a preservative they use to prevent the rubber from going bad. I might be mistaken though.
they put the powder on the tubes so that all the tubes won't stick together in the factory, that's the only reason for it. they also make putting tubes in tires easier.
the downside is, if you get a flat, your tire will immediately go flat. i take the talk off my tubes, it's not that much hard to put tubes in a tire. if i get a flat the air will stay inside the tube for a while and will slowly leak out. the tube gets stuck to the tire and so the air can't escape. this gives me enough air to get to a safe location later, or if your close to your destination you can pump up and keep going and safe patching up for later