Linux distros (either install media or straight live boot disks like Tails)
What’s the advantage of using a slow USB drive instead of just network-booting the install media or mounting it through IPMI?
moving files larger than like fucking 2gb without relying on spyware or self hosting a cloud service
Just send the data between machines using SCP, much easier and faster.
redundant backups of your most important files
Backups you do either to a NAS or to a Thunderbolt-connected SSD, not a USB-A drive. Again, much too slow to use a USB drive.