If you've got a flat tire, you can fix it up with a tire plug or patch. Despite the similar names and concepts, they are not the same thing.

Patching a tire is often inexpensive and fairly quick to do, but if you get a puncture on the tire's sidewall, you're out of luck. Here's how close you can get.

Using a plug, you can fix a tire almost anywhere, and having the tools and knowledge to plug a tire can save your bacon as it did ours.