10 yrs ago in the modern era, I put holed tubes on a peg in the basement and happily put new
tubes on flatted wheels. Then one day, about 4yrs later I saw there were 17 tubes hanging
there and new tubes, formerly $1.50-$2 were $3-4 and even more for my long stem requiring
wheels. I started patching, using a bunged wheel to test the repaired tubes. This was helped
by a buy of 20 patch kits from Performance for $10 or ~$0.12/patch. An 8oz can of glue from
Wmart lasts about 5yrs before getting too thick. Then I found Rima patches in 100 packs for
about $16 from AEBike and patch away. Rimas come in 15 and 20mm sizes there which handles
most chores. Tubes now get tossed mostly for valve tear outs and the 17 tubes are nearly gone.
A few survive in the short stem wheels, but recent acquisitions have necessitated buying up a load
of 45 and 60mm stem tubes.