Help in a can

I never thought I'd see the day that I recommended a product to my readers, but here goes.

The story begins on the east side of the mountains. It was after 10 p.m. when my friend and I got back to the Two Medicine parking lot in Glacier National Park after climbing Sinopah Mountain — the craggy peak visible across the lake from the boat dock.

The restaurants in East Glacier were closed by the time we got there, but the Trailhead Bar served pizzas right up to closing time. We watched a couple of pool games and listened to the Internet jukebox while we ate.

I drove my friend's car while she tried to sleep, but the car's wiggling kept her awake as I headed up to Marias Pass. I blamed a stiff Rocky Front wind, but she insisted the trees and weeds along the highway weren't moving.

We pulled over by the obelisk marking the Continental Divide and looked things over. She said the right rear tire felt hot. I said it was half flat.

We emptied the trunk and opened up the spare tire compartment. My friend said everything should be there — after all, she was the original owner of the 1999 Toyota Camry.

As I suspected, the spare was also flat, but laying beside it was a can of something called Fix-A-Flat. It looked gimmicky to me, but it was close to midnight and both of us were dead-tired and hell-bent on getting home to sleep.

I shook the can for 30 seconds, hooked up the can's hose to the tire valve, held down the button on top of the can and watched the tire slowly inflate. You could actually see the car rise as the tire filled with yellowy-looking gunk. Our spirits lifted with the car.

Just in case, we drove back to East Glacier to top off the tire and inflate the spare, but the "fix" held all the way back to Whitefish.

Two days later, the tire was still inflated, but it went to the tire shop for a professional inspection. The culprit was a nail.

Fix-A-Flat is available in most car supply stores in three sizes for different-sized vehicles.

The manufacturer, SOPUS Products, of Houston, Texas, claims the sealant will not damage tires, but they don't recommend using it on air mattresses, sports equipment or bicycle tires.

The sealant is water soluble so it's easy to clean when freshly applied. After it dries, mineral spirits are needed.

The guys who repair tires don't like Fix-A-Flat because the inside of a tire smells like a used diaper after use.

But many the people I spoke to about the product had hearty recommendations for it.

On the other hand, a lot of them had never heard of it.

Every car should have a can of Fix-A-Flat in the trunk. It's not expensive and even easier to use than calling AAA — you don't have to wait for the tow truck to show up.

That's especially important when you're up on Marias Pass at midnight on a Saturday night.