The kind of micro holes that make you pump air once a week are just par for the course. My front tube has four patches on it and will keep getting repaired as long as I can get away with it. It can hold air for months, which to me it makes it better than a brand-new tube.
Lumps on the inner tube doesn't matter. All of the strength of the inner tube comes from being held in place by the tire.
Carry a piece of canvas or other material to fix rips on the tire itself. If a rip is big enough, the tube will pop through it every time you try to pump pressure on it.