I'm actually at the point where I can do various swings with the three section staff without hitting myself. I don't know yet about hitting anything else with it, though...lol
Personally, I would rather practice the basic weapons in more depth first, than learn basics with twenty different uncommon weapons (which is sort of the way I was taught in my last school). I am glad that I have had exposure to lots of weapons, but I don't feel that I could actually use very many of those weapons.
Staff, Dao, Jian, and spear, I can handle. I consider those the "basics", and maybe add the nunchaku (ar chie kuen), which represent "soft" weapons. I feel pretty comfortable with all those weapons.
The Kwan Dao is really bad a**, but I feel like it's a little unwieldy for me.
Tiger hook swords are a weapon that don't feel as cool as they look to me. If they were sharp all over, like they would be for "real", people would be cutting themselves with those things more than cutting anyone else.
Chain Whip is one that is very applicable, but I haven't worked on it much. We've all see Jet Li and Jackie Chan do chainwhip moves with horseshoes on ropes, and fire hoses
I've never done rope dart or meteor hammer.
One uncommon weapon that I think is great and I practice regularly is damo's cane. The cane is something very useable in real life, and the techniques are some of my favorites. It's so practical (as something you can find or carry anywhere), that I consider it essential, though it's not considered one of the primary kung fu weapons.
The sai (cha) are a common Okinawan weapon, but an uncommon kung fu weapon which I have always liked, though we never got to spend much time on it either. Likewise for the tuifa (tonfa), or batons.