I have used that talisman technique a few times too on long road trips, bringing along the specific spare parts that I particularly hope to not need. It does seem to work pretty well. I have sometimes brought a spare starter motor if I take a long journey in a car with an automatic transmission, a spare IP belt, spare set of injector delivery pipes, etc. Usually does result in warding off the need for a repair, but every now and then I have had some kind of spare on board and then actually ended up having to use it. Not sure which situation is better.
But it is of course almost always the case that the part you do need is the one you don't have.
The injector return hoses really make a mess when they leak and the 3.5mm fuel rated line can be hard to find in a hurry. Had to use vacuum hose a couple times but that doesn't work for long. Anymore, I always keep a spare length on board in the glove box if I'm going further than across town. I have also found that those little hoses really don't like to be removed and then reinstalled, for whatever reason seems they always leak pretty soon afterwards if reused. I consider them as single-use parts at this point.