When I built my Disc Trucker I went with bar end shifters because it seemed like that's what most touring bikes had, including the stock Disc Trucker.

After riding with them for a few months and slowly growing to hate them, I looked at brifters but decided against them. I was already running full Deore XT derailleurs plus I didn't like the complexity and lack of friction mode.

Did some research and found Retroshift (now Gevenalle) and really liked the idea. Been using them since 2013 and really like them. Best of both worlds.

Being able to dump from a high gear all the way down to your lowest for a panic stop is nice too.