Bontrager thorn-resistant vs self-sealing tubes? So I arrived in New Mexico a bit over a month ago from the East Coast. Little did I know, there are things called "goatheads" that will give you flats like crazy. So I found that out fast on my 29er. Knobby tires don't matter at all, it's about the tube. So, because I do not want to spend money at this time on a tubeless upgrade (I just got a 1x drivetrain), I needed a solution.

I went into the city and thought I found my magical solution. Orange Seal. Pour 4oz of that in each tube and I'm good. Well it seemed to work for a bit, but then after buying 2 CO2 canisters and 2 tubes this weekend, I've already had to use them on two separate rides. Both times I actually wasn't riding singletrack but just pavement. Deflated in about a minute or less and had to put in a new tube and use a canister. 

So now I'm thinking these thick Bontrager tubes may be the ticket. But I'm not sure which to go with, the thorn-resistant or self-sealing ones.
I used to live in the Mojave desert and had that problem a lot. The only thing that seemed to work was a hard plastic strip that you can install on the inside of your tire, that's the first line of defense. Then I bought thick thorn-resistant inner tubes on top of that.