Okay, I've only had a rig with stabilizers since Feb of this year and only have about 30 days of camping using them and the remainder of the time the rig is on them when stored. One of the reasons that I bought a rig with them is that I am 76 years old, both knees and one hip replaced and spinal stenosis. Put simply, I have a hard time getting the darn blocks out and putting them in place.
We seldom worry about boon-docking in really weird places, mostly at "Q" and the ground is pretty hard there. We will be at the beach the end of the month and if I need to increase my footprint, I'll have the
DGD put some firewood under the pads. Otherwise, forget it. I'm using my levelers as they came to me.
PS, who ever it was that repeatedly used "Substrate", Base or sub-base is what you're talking about.