I thought that rather than a rip, his problem was the mesh separating from the frame in a two to three inch area. It happens, and especially if the tension at the other end is pretty good, I'd fix it with the aforementioned epoxy, and use the other end for small prints.
As my first generation of screens since my re-build reach five or so years, some of them are doing just that, but of course, they have been exposed to a lot of outside influences, various cleaning chemicals at the forefront. Being old, they aren't worth saving like Dennis' new ones, and I have been having them re-stretched.