When I first came on this site, UDS builds were everywhere- super ugly, super sleek, blinged out or simple. I went "simple"- built one or two- made more for friends- sharing what I thought was one of the best cookers ever.
I still think that. They have not been "the new hotness" for years... but I still fire one up every other weekend or so.
I never got the rock solid, stable temps for 14+ hours like many bragged about but 6-8 hour cooks were fall down easy.
Walk through any contest camp, almost every team has 2 to 4 drums with smoke chugging along. Difference is my $65 UDS now costs several hundred dollars!!
Ed