Well there are two reasons in my mind why people use a "skamania handle". First for the guys who like to drift fish here, when they use a spinning reel. When fishing they hold the rod at the top of the handle, people have told me that they do it cause they get better feel plus they hold the line between their middle and index finger I think, and it enables them to fish all day without the rod wearing their arm down cause they hold the rest of the handle aganist their forearm. I wouldn't have the slightest clue, since I have no use to drift fish here. Many people who float fish here with an "old school" handle configuration, they will put the reel down towards the butt because they feel that they get more line control cause there is more rod sticking past the reel. Although talk about a wrist killer, I broke a rod in Ontario last month, and had to fish with a buddies rod like that, after an hour my wrist got quite sore.