dddd

Now that this thread has morphed away from it's multiple-choice origins (I very dislike multiple-choice questions, almost as bad as picking politicians, grrr), I'll offer up what I know and do.

I almost always patch tubes, but not usually during a ride.

Purpose-designed patches have one particular feature besides having a prepared, clean surface and a feathered edge; these patches are designed not to stretch except around their edge(s)!

Why?

It's so that the tube itself won't be put in tension near to the hole, as since air can get between patch and tube, the tube itself slowly peels itself off of the patch, starting at the hole.
The first (stretchy) glueless patches were particularly prone to peeling themselves off for this reason, particularly when the tube's width didn't come close to filling the inside volume of a relatively-larger tire.
While the patch remains pinned to the inside curved surface of the tire, the tube slowly peels away as a flat membrane with a small hole in it, until the peeling reaches the edge of the bond, allowing air to escape.

Next thing about tubes is that I judge them. There are some much better than others, so some I will discard when first flatted.
Others, even if 30 years old(!), I will carefully patch and return to service.

What's to judge you say?

I like tubes with short valve stems, and I also like tubes with a bigger cross-sectional diameter but with thinner walls, the better to contain air once punctured, since a larger-sized tube doesn't have to stretch much to fill the inside of the tire casing. So, the bigger tube may allow you to ride home on a slowed leak(!), since the hole doesn't get stretched out but instead almost seals itself.
Michelin actually sells dimpled tubes that put the tube wall in 3-D "planar" compression once inflated against the inside wall of the tire, but I get the same benefit by putting a bigger tube into my tires (which may require a more careful installation, piece of cake).

Secondly, the rubber on some batches of tubes does not take well to patch adhesives. When I notice that a tube doesn't abrade cleanly with the sandpaper, that's a red flag that the balling-up (instead of abrading like dust) rubber is not a good candidate for patching! I toss tubes that don't abrade cleanly, since the patches on these so often peel and fall off.

So what else to say. I mostly use round Rema-type patches cut into quarters, which of course requires more "quality control" to do reliable patching with. I use fresh-appearing glue, avoiding thickened glue, and I whirl the tube to accelerate glue drying before applying the patch. Breathing on the glue has been known to cause problems, as has not allowing the glue to dry thoroughly before applying the patch. I once conversed with Jobst Brandt about this, together with the Rema booth rep at Interbike, but my conclusion is my own.

I've patched perhaps over one thousand punctures, having applied as many as seven cut patches at one time to a single tube, and feel that it is reliable and worthwhile (those seven patches got me home).
And I've found glueless patches to also be reliable, but depending greatly on the material and size of the tube. Some have failed within minutes.

I have saved many, many of the ~30-yr-old Specialized-branded tubes that have such thin walls and generous width, after finding them in old tires, and they have proven to be at least as reliable as new ones.
BTW, I measure tube width with the tube flatted, measuring straight across, and try for at least a 25% greater "folded tube" width than the listed tire size. I use the tube size listed on the box as only a reference to the minimum tire size it can be used in, but have at times actually installed undersized tubes (usually without problems) when only a narrow one was available.
I also find it useful to put tubes on the scale, and use width vs. weight to judge how good of a tube it is.