Self-custody is not practical. You go to a lot of effort to either constantly keep your channels well-maintained, and even then, you still are at risk of going down an hours-long rabbit hole to recover funds. I wouldn't put more than $500 of bitcoin in lightning, and even then, I consider that money GONE. I'm elated to find that it is still there.

And I know that it isn't really "gone". I just would abandon a max $500 than have to sperg out on finding the right arcane spell to recover it from a fucked-up channel.

Smart ones only had in WoS what they would carry in cash around for the day; like me. Gun to face “hand me your walllet!” Me: here you go stick up man. Good luck. It’s about $60usd.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks they need to "maintain channels" If you don't want to be bothered with it, don't route payments. Use your shit for only yourself.