Yeah I use portable apps (plus any other gadget that looks appealing). My life is a bit easier because I am workshop based so I don't really need to 'condense' my lifesaving apps for travelling purposes, but it's a whole heap easier to chuck the must have apps onto a key for a repair.
the only thing I would say about portableapps is that they are good for day to day apps (virus removal, secure delete, etc) but if you need to run real 'tech' repair tools then they can be a bit lacking.