Safety Seal has been the industry standard for decades. Made in the USA... The tool handles are heavy duty cast aluminum and feel very substantial.
You're not alone. That is the general mentality in the tire repair industry these days. People dislike plugs because someone once told them that patches are better, and then snowballed from there.
I suppose it's possible for a plug to fall out of a tire if the puncture hole is simply to big for the plug, where as a patch can't fall through the hole. However, a patch can fall off the inside of the tire so they are even in that respect. I've heard people claim that a patch is "safer" than a plug. I'm still trying to figure that one out. If there is a hole in a tire, that hole still remains whether it's been plugged or patched. And that THIN LITTLE patch of rubber glued to the inside certainly is NOT adding any structural strength or integrity back into the tire. 30 years ago I worked at a full service gas station (remember those?) as the tow truck driver/gas attendant. It was a full service shop that could handle even heavy repair. It was located along a state highway and we would get 3-5 customers PER SHIFT that would pull in with a low/flat tire. I personally installed hundreds of tire plugs back in those days (safety Seal) and NOT A SINGLE customer came back with problems. Back then, the mentality was, once the tire was plugged, it was FIXED! You forgot about it! Go put another 30,000 miles on those tires because they've been fixed...... Then, somewhere along the way someone claimed that patches were better, and here we are in late 2017. lol
Tire plugs still work just fine!
Hell, I've put plugs through worse in a week than most could in ten years of trying hard. I love being told they're not acceptable, because people get really bent out of shape about it.
Here's the thing:
It's industry nonsense. Plugs are not only fine, they're a
great way to get the job done, regardless of what tools you have on hand or where you are in the world.
Same people that try to tell you it's okay to run a thousand miles of washboard an hour after they've glued a windshield on the car... They went to some night class, were told something once, and it stuck like Liquid Nails; unlike their windshield...
Plugs aren't a compromise. They're a solution. Just get the good stuff and be done with it. A Safety Seal kit will last you many,
many years on the road, as they tend to come with a fair number of plugs.
The "Special Lube" jar will never stop giving you a chuckle, either.
