I find it interesting that the people that say you don't need the spoke protector are also the same ones who don't have the tools or the knowledge to remove them?

It takes two minutes to drop the rear wheel, and remove the cassette or freewheel to remove the spoke protector.

It takes considerably longer to try to cut it up and get the pieces off the rear wheel.

People without tools who don't know what they are doing are the ones that need spoke protectors the most.