I'm paranoid of blow outs and mishaps w. bands - things can turn very bad very quickly.
Band Mishap
The key is as you noted, taking good care of your bands.
Secondly, checking you bands to ensure they are not wearing out, minimized band issues.
Another alternative is...
Chains
Chain elicit a somewhat similar training effect.
They are basically indestructible and will pretty much last forever.
Ascending Strength Curve Movements
Band and Chain, as we know, are optimal for developing strength through a great range of the movement.
Dr Gideon Ariely
Research by Ariely has demonstrated that in all movements, the exercise only overload the muscles in approximately 30% of it.
That means the remaining 70% is underloaded; not maximally overload where results are optimally achieved.
This bring us to...
How To Set Up Chain Loading
Many companies that sell chains, have them attached to a collar that goes on your bar.
Chain attached to an Olympic Collar are not the best choice for a few reasons.
Using Chains When Squatting
Chris Thibaudeau's video demonstrates the most effective set up for chain.
1) Smaller chains attaching the larger chain to the bar.
a) This allows you to adjust the chain load to lifters with different heights; wrap more or less chain around the bar depending if a lifter is shorter or taller.
b) The first 1/3 of an Ascending Strength Cure Movement (Squat, Bench Press, etc) is where the overload occurs.
Bench Press Example
Approximately the first 4 inches off the chest is where the greatest overload is.
Since the greatest overload is in the bottom part of the Bench Press, less chain resistance is required.
Once you drive the weight beyond that point, the load that you can drive up dramatically increases.
Thus, attaching the smaller chain from the bar to the larger chains allows you to minimize the loading in the bottom part of the movement and then increase it in the upper part of the movement.
2) Chains With Olympic Collars
a) For the reason stated above, this set up make no sense. As Thibaudeau stated, "What kind of an idiot are you?"
b) Chain With Olympic Collar are a pain when it come to loading and unloading the bar for training sets.
Most individual end up taking the Chains With Olympic Collars off, to load and unload the bar, then putting the Chains back on.
With that in mind, what is much easier is to attached the chains on the inside of the bar, against the bar collars and leave them there.
You can then quickly and easily load and unload the weight on the bar without having to screw with the chains.
c) The cost of Chains With Collars is a lot more than just purchasing smaller chains to attached the larger chains to the bar.
d) You don't need to worry about what to anchor the chains to, as you do with the bands.
e) To reiterate, the smaller chains allow you modify length/amount of the Accommodating Chain Resistance, dependent on the height of the lifter.
The smaller chains also allow you to slightly modify where you want to slightly increase or decrease the resistance in a movement; dependent on your sticking point.