Kool stop works great.

I don't carry on my bike, but my standard practice for hard to mount tires is a few days after mounting, do a simulated road flat repair to ensure no problems.

with tight tire good levers are essential and possibly a metal lever is needed. I like park for tl-4.2 for plastic https://www.parktool.com/en-us/produ...ver-set-tl-4-2 and TL 6.2 for metal https://www.parktool.com/en-us/produ...=Tube+%26+Tire