I am not convinced that using 1/4" strips instead of 3/16" will necessarily reduce the chances of sanding through.

I can imagine that the extra effort needed to get a 1/4" strip to fit perfectly might mean that there is a bigger step and more sanding to do to get it fair.

However, that is only speculation on my part because I use a heat gun and manage to get the strips to fit well enough.

I built two kayaks with 1/4" strips before I learned that some builders prefer 3/16". Since then I have built several sea kayaks with 5mm strips, racing kayaks and children's kayaks with 4mm strips and 3.5mm. ( I will let you do the conversion to imperial measurements. :) ) I don't believe I will ever go back to 6mm.

With a reasonable amount of care and a heat gun, I wouldn't expect anyone to sand through 3/16| Getting the strips to sit flat makes a bigger difference than having a lot of thickness available to sand.