Originally Posted by pj7
You can purchase a CO2/Hand hybrid pump, those are real handy. That way if you get a second flat and only have one inflator you can still pump the tube.
CO2 can inflate a tire completely. It is best to set the bead with a hand pump first, and then use the shot of air to complete the pump-up... at least that is my advice.
I had two of these. The first one seized up on the manual side. The second one accepted the CO2 cart but wouldn't work. It took 10 minutes to pump the tire manually.
To answer the OP, a small CO2 pump with a couple cartridges is a fair trade off between size and convenience but don't make it the only option.
One CO2 will get
one road tire ridable - until you get home. The CO2 doesn't keep the tire psi up for long. CO2 also doesn't work as well in temps below 40F.