Silica sleeve, ribbon wire and AGA-T2 setup questions

[Low Budget]

I have been on my RSST for 3 weeks now and I really like it. #400 Mesh 1.5” x 1.5” rolled solid and cut up the middle on the tank end. Not oxidized just a couple shots of heat to remove contaminants (prior to rolling). 2/3 wrap of 30ga Kanthal wrapped around wick while it is in the rba and pulse method gets me to about 1.0-1.1 ohms usually. Little bit of pushing and moving of the coil to eliminate hot spots (same method Pete Busardo uses in his RSST video). This has been working out really good for me but I know the RSST and its insulated wick hole makes things a bit easier.

I tried a couple times to build a similar set up on a Cobra clone I have and had pretty poor results. The wick hole was really small (I mean really small). I have since drilled out the wick hole to 3/32 but have yet to try and set it up again.
I have ordered an AGA-T2 and have a couple questions.

Is Ribbon any better than the 30ga Kanthal I am currently using? If so what size ribbon? I have 100’ of 30ga kanthal is it worth it to switch over to ribbon?

Has anyone tried silica sleeving? XS-18 Silica Sleeving - Kidney Puncher
If so how does it work and does it go over the whole wick or just the top part where the coil is?

I guess I am looking for the best set up. Silica wick? SS Mesh? Ceramic Wick? Ribbon? Wire?
Thanks for the help!