Split grads are a bit old school (like me with my Mamiya) but have great flexibility. I like using a polariser for the water and NDs for the sky when I'm shooting water. You get see through water and proper exposure of sunsets etc.
I know what you mean about worrying the light is elsewhere, but that's the motivator that gets me up the next day a 3am to get sunrise etc 🙄 Golden hour is ever elusive as I find many of my best images are taken when I see it and jump out of the car. A 'blue moon' (2nd full moon in a calendar month) at dusk over an ancient Indian settlement & circle in the desert in Western USA, tors in Peak District when it's a heavenly deluge but the sun is just right for 45 seconds, hummingbird feeding 2 chicks in a nest the size of a cadburys cream egg or the perfect light through the window with no internal lights for a portrait of my 91yr old grandmother. I've also been waist deep into snowmelt rivers and 30ft up a tree to get the right shot
The best camera is the one you have with you. I always have a DSLR in the car as I've missed too many opportunities.
Really admire your work.
You might like michael richmans site 'luminous landscape'