Thanks RM

I've been unwrapping for a while now and was kinda self taught so you showed me a few little time saving tips that will be invaluable in the future. Good tip also on seperating mirrored uv's off to the side for render to texture stuff. cheers!
Also, a good way to do that handle on the side is a -> Normal Map -> Top/Bottom in the uv edit window. Then just pull out the outer edges a little to correct the checker pattern.