So I royally messed up my rim tape changing a tire and am a few miles from the nearest bike shop... could I temp use electrical tape?

I've used duct tape before. Duct tape can fix anything.

strapping tape with the fibers running through it.

A strip cut out of an old tube

In a bind, I have run 2 or 3 wraps of electrical tape around the rim.

Electrical tape lacks the strength of a reinforced tape and will, blow through at higher pressures or when it gets hot outside. But just about any reinforced tape will do, including cloth surgical tape, reinforced packing tape, and so on.

Do you have a sporting goods store nearby? You could try some tennis racket tape.

I've used a double layer in a pinch, I had meant to swap it out later but had forgotten until I had to change the tube two years later. I do agree though that I wouldn't trust it, I could see quite a few spots where the spoke nipples had almost broken through.

Similar experience here. Used a double layer of electrical tape. Worked ok, but after only two decades and about 100,000 miles one of the spoke holes wore through and caused a flat. Of course by then the rim's brake surface was almost worn through so it was ready for replacement. (Road bike with tires pumped up to about 110 psi.)

I have used electrical tape many times. You could take an old tube and cut a strip, done that before.
Duct tape done that before.

I use excess strapping that I've cut from (too long) tie-downs, with a small piece of duct tape to hold the two ends, plus some tape sticky-rim-side down to keep the strap from sliding around during mounting.

Well, OK, this is more than an "in-a-pinch" solution. For me, it's a replacement for rim tape.

A few wraps of electrical tape? Sure thing. It will get you home and many miles beyond. I used to use glass reinforced strapping tape routinely for all rims. Functionally it works great, doesn't cost much, and lasts a long time. Nowadays I have more money to spend so I have been using Newbaum's rim tape and recommend it highly when you want to replace the electrical tape

Plastic banding material, very easy to find in the dumpster of almost any business that receives palletized freight.

Really?

Another second world problem that would be easily solved with a simple forum/Google search.

You haven't listed your location. One could only assume that you are far enough from Alabama not to instinctively know that duct tape (AKA Alabama Chrome) would be an effective, albeit temp, cure to your dilemma.

NOT electrical tape. I think first aid tape would be excellent - probably about as good as proper rim tape. Duck tape, well, maybe. In a pinch, for a while. The better grades like gaffer tape or Gorilla tape are probably good. The cheap stuff is garbage. If you live up north and have hockey tape, that'd be perfect.

I'd get them out of there ASAP though - the adhesive turns to gooey soup in a few weeks, especially if they get wet.

Electrical tape will probably work OK if your pressures are not too high (say < 50 PSI).

For that matter, at low pressures the cheap bikes use a rubber strip - if you have an old tube you could use that.

Doesn't work... Need something with non-stretchable reinforcement. Strapping tape might work.

What happened to the old tape?

Perhaps use it as a base layer and run electrical tape over the top.

I now have a roll of electrical tape in my seat bag. It comes in handy for many things.

a single wall rim has different requirements, than a double wall rim, and of course the OP fails to say which kind they have.

rim tape is used on only one of these types of rims...

i have been through this many times heres the thrifty method that works! clean inside of rim of oil and grease let dry put 1 layer of vinyl electric tape (the cheap stuff) next a layer of medical cloth tape the plastic kind (looks like thin rim tape).

Call your mommy to give you a ride to the bike shop............be sure to take a roll of duct tape in case a water hose blows out and you're a mile from town.

Biking------requires a bit of common sense with a touch of "McGyver" on occasion. Without some of each you'd best stick to riding the ankle express.

in a pinch I would use an old inner tube. That's one reason you don't throw them away.

That, and making rubber bands of arbitrary length.

I use hockey tape, it makes a perfect rim tape.

That, and wrapping handlebars. I use a layer of old innertube underneath regular bar tape, and I don't need padded gloves.

Wait, arbitrary length? I can see small ones just by slicing the tube, or super-large ones by going all the way around, but what about in-between? Oh, I guess you can use more and more "diagonal" slices to increase the length rather arbitrarily (up to maybe even many times around the whole tube?) And what about smaller ones? I guess you can cut out a disc of any size, and then cut its insides out to make it a band. Very clever.