Honestly, a piece of old inner tube rubber works shockingly well for that. It molds to any shape and you can cut it to any size.

Control the salt" is the part that got me... my first batch I forgot salt entirely and they tasted like sad, beige pillows.

Yeah, fresh flakes make all the difference, don't they?

How did you even find a flight that cheap? My best was a week in Krakow for about the same amount, maybe a little less. I did the same thing with a bunk in a hostel and lived on zapiekanka from street stalls. Public transit there costs nothing, and most of the museums have a free day. It's totally doable if you skip the fancy restaurants and just walk until your feet hurt.

My 3M hose did the exact same thing last year, right at the worst time. It's like they design these things to fail the second you start a big sanding job. You'd think for the price, the coupling would be made of something better than wishful thinking.