Whilst doing the Cairngorms loop I picked up a puncture/slit in the side wall of a tubeless tyre that wouldn't seal so without thinking I just bunged in a tube which saw me good for the rest of the trip. Today however, whilst cleaning out all the solidified sealant on the inside of the tyre I came across a thorn which should have punctured the inner tube but didn't. I'm thinking there was still enough liquid sealant between the tyre and tube to seal it even though I had got rid of as much of the sealant as I could when putting the tube in. Lesson learnt, check your tubeless tyre for thorns etc before putting a tube in. I was lucky and got away with it.

Continental inner tubes with removable valve cores, Park Tool patches and a small Stans as back up.

I love tubeless but concerns on a long ride if it failed. ..

jBay wrote:Continental inner tubes with removable valve cores, Park Tool patches and a small Stans as back up.

I love tubeless but concerns on a long ride if it failed. ..

Apart from the thorns above what extra risk over tubes?

More I feel I need to take a spare tube when tubeless.

jBay wrote:More I feel I need to take a spare tube when tubeless.

I always did when tubed, rather not fiddle with patches mid ride. Anything that slashes a sidewall would take out the tube I'd have thought. The downside to tubeless is if you want to frequently try different tyres.

Suture material. I've seen some long and big cuts. A suture and inner tube should have fixed the issue.

I always carry spare tubes. And when I was running Schwalbe tyres, I had to use a tube on every ride. Total crap. My Conti XKings haven't been touched by the local flinty mud mix though, but I always want to be able to ride home, so carry tubes anyway.