I'm a Kamado Joe guy all the way. Lump charcoal only.
Bamboo is a true grass, and has a high level of silica in the outermost layer of its stems (like scour rush). As such, it doesn't absorb water as well as birch or oak wood dowels, making the wood dowels easier to read. It's a matter of choice, I guess. The bamboo skewers are easy to find, cheap, and and already sharpened, but the wooden dowel rods are easier to read, which is why I usually suggest the wood dowel 'tells'.
I very often use the bamboo skewers when I'm wiring bonsai trees, so I always have a couple lengths at hand. They're really handy for moving leaves and twigs out of the way as I wire - so they don't get wired against the thicker branches being manipulated into place. Hard to get a finger and a thumb into a tight space - easy to use the tip of a skewer to move things out of the way.
Al
