djb

I would suspect from my long experience from using Gatorskins, is that you'll find them rather reliable. Damaging tires really comes down to being able to notice stuff and not rub up against things, and touch wood, touch wood, they are generally pretty rare with road riding.

one real positive thing about your setup is how narrow it is, not having panniers has a noticeable effect on speed in the over 25kph area, from my experience anyway, so this makes for a more efficient ride.
This aspect of keeping a load much smaller is a real factor, and one I appreciate as its just fun to be able to ride faster with the same output---that said, I don't mind riding with more stuff, its just a different sort of experience--one that Mr CC here very markedly noticed from being a roadie, but thats normal.