My Next Fly Rod

I owned a Hardy Gladstone that I picked up at a garage sale in Madison Wisconsin. It was unmarked as to line weight so I bought it "on feel" only to realize it was probably built as a wet fly rod of about 7 weight, I'm guessing. Anyway, I don't have it anymore and am really not sure exactly what happened to it

I have used a few. Carpenter, F.E Thomas and a Winston. First off at the time I could not afford to keep them but, I always went to a fiberglass rod and did better. I may not have developed the skill for the "feel" a Split Bamboo, good split bamboo, rod has to offer.

That said I think there is a Hardy Gladstone or maybe a Phantom in the future.

With the onset of Spring, my thoughts are quickly turning toward slow moving waters and trout rising to meet the newly hatched morsels drifting to the surface. I currently have a Winston WT 5-weight but I'm thinking about going with a nice bamboo rod. Not a cane rod that we've all seen leaning against the corner in the bait shop by the dozens, but a handmade split can rod by Orvis, Winston, or Thomas & Thomas. Graphite has a huge number of advantages but bamboo is stronger in some ways and there's something special about casting with a piece of handmade artwork that was a living part of nature.

What do you guys think of bamboo? Is it worth the price or is one better off with 2 graphite or boron rods? My rods have to be 3 or 4 piece travel rods because I'm a sporting nomad and like things to be packable and handy to throw in a truck and go.....