If you are happy with the distributions you use, there is no need to try Gentoo.

In my opinion, as a Gentoo user for the last 20 years, Gentoo is the most flexible distribution there is. Gentoo can be as stable as Debian or it can be as (or even more) cutting edge as Arch. Or it can be anything in between and you can even mix and match as you like.

The cost you pay for that flexibility is the compile time it takes to build the packages. And Gentoo is even providing you with prebuilt binaries for a very large amount of packages.

Not sure if you’d gain all that much with your level of experience. LFS might be a better starting point. However, after suggesting doing a stage 2 to a few that were eager to learn more (even though they’d been using it for a very long time), it was generally a positive experience. If you go through the guide I’m sure you’d be able to tell quickly whether it would be useful.

Honestly as a not-used-Gentoo person recklessly throwing around my opinion on the internet...

It sounds like either it can be "Really optimized and crazy performant if you know what you're doing."

Or "It's a fun hobby because you think operating systems are fun."

Personally it seems cool except I think I'd start to burn out fast if every package install means having to read compilation instructions and edit configs.

Maybe because my experience compiling stuff is always like "What's your problem this time?! Okay where do I find that package version?!"

EDIT: I love all the educational, reassuring, and enthusiastic responses. This is what makes Linux cool. :D I should give Gentoo a try...

You should be at the point where you just want simply and easy. Because you have reached the point "I'm tired Boss. So tired." When it comes to an OS.

So maybe Mint or a Fedora Atomic spin.

I have somewhat similar experience (with far more recent kernels tho, 2.6 and newer) gentoo has some gentoo specific things, it won't really teach you a lot when you have a certain level of knowledge, and how most parts interface with each other. It's a fun exercise if you have time.