I have used knee wraps for 25 years. I have also squatted 804.4 @ 242 competing in the USAPL and I am life time drug free. I have squatted 700+lbs in drug tested meets over 3 decades. I would wrap with anything above 405 while training. The heavier the weight, the tighter I would wrap. I do not believe they are a "crutch". They have preserved my knees over the years through hundreds of extremely hard workouts. I have used them during high rep training and low rep training. As long as you wrap properly and make sure your knee caps are aligned, you should be fine. I am living proof they work. I have had 2 left knee (acl) scopes only due to football injuries. Now....at the age of 41, my knees feel great, no problems what so ever. I should also add that I squatted atleast once a week for 20 consecutive years, other than during the recovery from the surgeries. I truly believe that wrapping during squats have saved my knees.