Anyone who rides regularly and doesn't live in a flat area is doing hundreds if not thousands of descents a year. If a wheel has even a 0.1% greater chance of losing a tire after hitting a rock, I'm never going to touch it, even if it's half the cost.
What I learned from this thread is just how many people around here are tighter than a dolphin's ass, so cheap with money that they're willing to increase the risk to their own safety for the sake of saving a few bucks.
I bought my hookless wheels specifically because I wanted
those wheels, not any other reason. If I wanted a set that had hooks, I’d buy them. I’m actually considering some Reserve 52/63s that are semi-hooked as another wheelset. Cheapness has nothing to do with it- but keep making assumptions.
Is your position that that in an impact hard enough to crack the rim, a hooked wheel would have a higher chance of the tire staying on the rim? I just want to make sure I have it straight.
Have you ever inflated a TLR tire on a hookless rim? You know that much like a hooked wheel, the tire bead stays locked with no air pressure on a hookless rim? The only tire I have used that does not also did not stay locked on a hooked rim either (Schwalbe Pro One TLE).