I really like STI brifters. If I were to tour Mongolia I'd still use them, but would probably take a pair of down tube friction shifters as spares just in case. In the US I don't bother with spares. I figure only one is going to go bad at a time and I can rig one dérailleur to the middle of the range if one fails. That leaves me enough range to limp along until the next bike shop where it could either be replaced with a new one or a D/T shifter.
I never liked bar ends. Way back in the 80's I had a pair of Dura Ace bar ends. I hated them and switched to D/T shifters. It seems like I constantly either banged them with my knees and bumped them out of gear when parked. That and I didn't find them any more convenient to use than D/T shifters.