Mornin' ville!
@Debadoo thanks hun

I so would have loved to be there for that porcher get together! Aw I envy you all...that must be so awesome to get together in a big house with a bunch of REOnauts!!!
Regarding SS, yes I think you'd get the TH you're looking for if you build lower, but I'm not sure, because I get so little TH anyway due to high VG (80+%) and low nic (4mg or less). SS is notably smoother than kanthal, but if all the variables are right I'd imagine you'd get a good TH from an SS build.
Regarding cool down and burnt juice, I think I may have confused you. That should be less of an issue with SS than Kanthal because overall SS is a cooler vape, with less heat. As the resistance goes up during a hit, the coil is essentially becoming cooler. Think of it almost functioning like a regulated mod in one way - I know some regulated mods will push extra wattage at the pulse, to increase the ramp up to your desired wattage, but then tames down to your desired wattage once it has landed there.
So, I'm vaping on a stumpola right now with a 24g single coil 8 wraps which is .29 ohms. But really, I'm getting the vape of a .4 ohm coil (that seems to be as high as it's going when I hit it). So my .29 ohms is just pushing that 60 watts, and taming down to whatever wattage .4 is. The 60 watts could just be seen as a regulated pulse to get me to my actual desired wattage, if that makes sense.
It dissipates heat quickly, quicker than a kanthal build (or so it seems, anyway), and for instance I get less "sizzle" after letting off the fire button and ending my draw. (You may not hear sizzle anyway at 1.3 ohms)
If you're vaping at 1.3 usually, you'd want to experiment in the 1 ohm range with SS. So, I'd say that 30ga SS and 28g SS are what you should try out if you're aiming for a single coil. 30ga SS single coils will land you where you want to be I think. 28 as well, and it'd be worth experimenting with both IMO to see what you prefer. You may even want to try a .8 or .9 build, which will still, for the most part, be more like a 1 ohmish build in terms of heat, etc.
By the way, an atty that can run a center build like a Stumpy, Maker, I believe the O-16, etc., will produce a greater TH by the nature of having a coil in the center (it is farther from the airhole).
I know what you mean about thin wire being tough to see and work with. I like thicker gauge for that reason, as well. The thicker the gauge, the easier it is to work with, even beyond being easier to see - just seems more malleable, less likely to snip when tightening the posts, etc. Running a thicker gauge than you're used to, of SS instead of kanthal, will be so remarkably easy in comparison to building dual 30g kanthal builds you'd probably fall back in your chair laughing at how easy it is!
I'm no expert and have only been using this wire a little less than 2 weeks, so anyone around here who knows more than me, hop on in to this conversation, educate us all