Just stay away from those plastic 'self-stick' patches and you will be fine. Those things are only good to get you going again. Once back home, toss the tube, as the patch will rip the tube if you try to remove it, but will not last all that long as it is not vulcanized chemically to the tube. If you want to use a perfectly good tube that has a little hole in it, use the patches that come with the glue and sandpaper. Patch is as strong or stronger than the rest of the tube if done right. I've ridden on tubes with 3 patches, no worries. Now if the tube has snakebite type holes or is split on a seam, I toss it. I learned how to patch correctly back in the '80s when I ran tubular tires. Yep, I've sat on the side of the road with a needle and thread... Trust me, I did not want to do that more than once. And I did not want to toss something that expensive.
Not creating more trash with new tube packaging and old tube, priceless.