The stock handle is fine, I just like a bigger handle.

I'm fishing 25lb with a very tight drag on these reels. With the dartanium drag, you can set the drag really tight but still get smooth pay out of line. The way I fish, the drag should only come into play on 25lb test on the biggest fish. A 6 or 7lber should not pull drag. BUT, when the big bite comes and the fish dives the other way, I want it to pay out some line. I fish it tight enough that when it does pay out the line, you hear a pinging popping sound as the line goes through the levelwind. The stock washers are made out of a cloth or asbestos type material and are stickier at a high drag setting, I think because they get compressed. If you're fishing that tight of a drag and it sticks, that's when you might snap off.

It's also been my experience so far with dartanium drags that it doesn't really matter if you back the drag off or not for storing the reel. The disc is so hard, I don't see how it could be affected. With the stock drags, if you leave the drag set tight, it will compress the disk and start to push it out the edges. That distortion is what makes it get stickier. If you have a curado with a fried drag, pull out the cloth disc and I bet it's pushed out and a little frayed around the edges.

That's just personal observation, not some expert info. I don't think most people set their drag as tight as I do for bass fishing :)