Having an item equipped and leveling the skill up are two issues. A level 10 skill is pretty worthless above the BF. My bow is almost 90 and it is a joy, club skill is up there too and my stam usage is pretty low. Shield is around 40 and that makes a huge difference. It's boring and annoying but much of the complaining of stam issues is somewhat offset by raising skills, from running, jumping, weapons.