It seems to me that precautionary landings are an excellent idea in the right aircraft, but not to be undertaken lightly in anything higher performance.
Wise words. To be type certified, the maximum stall speed, and therefore, to some degree, expectation of a successful off runway landing, are specified. Though, obviously, a heavy, high performance single, with a 61 knot stall speed will take a lot me, better surface landing area for it to work out well, than the proverbial "Cub".
But that leaves a much broader group of amateur builts, which are not required to have, and may not have the "off field" capability of even the bigger singles.
It can be a tough decision to land off airport, for precautionary reasons. There may also be insurance implications, as it could be considered a deliberate "landing", but not on a runway, as it specified for some policies. Of course, it is much more wise to sacrifice the plane neatly, to save your life, but that is not trained well.
I spent a lot of time ferrying high performance singles, and those many hours afforded me the protracted opportunity to be thinking "where would I put it in now?". And then, to refine things, would it be gear up, or gear down. Most often, my conclusion resulted in the potential selection of gear up. There'd be damage, but less chance of destruction.
I've been very lucky, I've been forced to land both power on and off a few times, and I have always managed to land damage free, at a place from which a later takeoff could be accomplished no fuss. Now, in the amphibian flying boat, I look for a body of water. If not that, then yes, I probably will slide it onto it's belly gear up, unless the surface looks particularly welcoming to wheels.....