To get back to the original question, I use alternate tunings frequently. I learned DADGAD fairly early on thanks to Tom Rush's "Poor Man". He called it D Modal tuning and a banjo player helped explain what that meant. I use it some for "blues" as well as other songs. I use G and D tunings, mostly G. I use them for blues, but primarily for non-blues songs. In G tuning, I sometimes tune the bass E string down to G giving me a GGDGBD. Gives me a heaby bass when fingerpicking. 'Course you can't do that with light gauge strings 'cause you end up with spaghetti.

I find that alternate tunings provide some variety in performance, as they often don't "sound" like standard tuning.

Roger in Baltimore