Bands vs bolts? Just different fastening techniques, in my opinion.

I've used both, and crashed both. I've had bolts shear off, and I've had them
not shear off, and twist the block out of the fuse, demolishing it, in the process.
Same with bands... sometimes they pop, sometimes they don't. Crossed or otherwise.
Same with using nylon versus steel bolts, for bolting on the landing gear.
I've seen fuse bottoms ripped completely out, using either method.

The amount of crash damage is "luck of the draw", generally speaking.
I've seen crashes where one method may have been better than the other, for that
particular crash, but it all depends on the plane, weight, speed, angle of impact, etc...
There's no way to tell which way you're going to crash, next time, so use what you like.
At 54mph, straight into the dirt, you expect total destruction, except perhaps tailfeathers.
(Must agree with you on the flight data recorder... nice gadget )

Build them to fly, not to crash.
I do prefer bolts (nylon OR steel), personally... purely from a simplicity standpoint.
I have no illusions that they will decrease my chances of crash damage. I know better