I just found out that you can't withdraw a designated amount of Bitcoin from paper wallets, you can only sweep or import them.
This seems kind of weird to me. What is the point of a paper wallet if its sole purpose is to later on be swept clean of its coins? If security is an issue, wouldn't it make more sense to have a software bitcoin wallet that runs off an encrypted usb drive?
You've had some really great responses in this thread. In my view, paper wallets are inferior to the double-flashdrive approach.
Just keep your wallet.dat files on 2 drives stored in separate locations. Then, keep a bitcoin client "containing dust" fully synchronized on your machine on the ready.
Now, when you need to make a withdrawal, close the client, copy over your USB wallet.dat, reopen client and make withdrawal, then reverse the process to restore the dust wallet. Keep one flashdrive hidden and one within easy grasp.