> I'm not sure how they could constantly try double spends without risking losing the money each time the attack doesn't happen.
If you're not trying to profit from the double spend itself but rather from a collapse following a proven double-spend, you can double-spend the bitcoins to yourself.
I don't see how it could be profitable. If it can't be profitable, then the risk of someone doing it is pretty low. If they already have the necessary hardware, they'd be much better off mining.