... It really isn't rocket science.
Even if it was, that wouldn't worry me.
On my commute I'll carry two spare inner tubes (to suit whichever bike I'm cycling), a pump, a CO
2 inflater, and a puncher repair kit.
On a longer ride, like a FNRttC, I'll often carry more inner tubes and CO
2 cartridges, and occasionally a spare tyre. I've used all of them on one occasion or another.
My record for punctures is three in a commute, on two different occasions, probably a decade apart. Generally these days the better tyres that I use make punctures much rarer, but the last triple puncture trip was about 18 months ago (with a damaged, and compromised Marathon Supreme).
I've always known how to get a wheel off, and repair a puncture. I'm much more practised at it now, and can get most tyres on without having to resort to mechanical aids, but I do have a tool for those extra tight racing tyres that can occasionally cause problems.
In an emergency most combinations of inner tubes and tyres will work, the exceptions being too extreme disparities in diameters (eg a 700C inner tube in a Brompton tyre), a smaller inner tube than the tyre, and a very extreme range between small inner tube width and large tyre width (although I'd try that at low pressure if I had no other option).
It's amazing that people can't deal with such an easy repair, but then again many people can't deal with a flat on a car, and that's generally easier than one on a bike (in my limited experience). Many cyclists don't seem to have grasped that rear LED lights occasionally need new batteries either, and seem to assume that they're designed to last the lifetime of the bike, so it's not a unique class of problem.
