I have a Kohler 1219-L-0 which is a left-hand drain 32"x60" alcove 19" deep soaking tub. Kohler's recommended drain is a trip lever pop-up stopper. My issue with this is I can just see it being the ultimate hair and gunk catcher.

I'd like to find one of the older style bathtub drains where it's just a barrel that slides up and down the drain pipe and blocks the pipe from the tub drain. I'd like it to be brass and it has to be the floor level setup. Not too picky on the finish as long as it's some sort of chrome and decent quality. Every one of these I seem to find stops at a 16" height tub.

The old tub has a toe-tap drain but it always liked to stick and I ended up just unscrewing it and getting a rubber plug. If the other style is too much of a pain to find I can always just go back with another one of these I guess. Do the cable-operated drains work any better in terms of not sticking and catching all the hair and gunk?

what is a floor level set-up?
gerber makes a nice quality roman tub waste.
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It means that the T does not put the waste pipe down through the floor, but paralell to it. I have a concrete slap so the pipe has to run back about 8" to the wall where it hooks up to the trap that connects to the sewer. Otherwise I'd have to cut out the floor below the drain to install it. That'd work find if it was second story or I had a basement. Unfortunately basements are pretty rare here in Florida. Water table it too high for most of them.

They do NOT make what you want in that style drain. You either use a push//pull or the pop-up.

A photo of your present drain set-up might be helpful.

A cable drain would be an option.

And not one from a big box store with plastic gears. You get what you pay for.

I like the look and function of a cable drain. It's not something you see every day. I'll have to see how much they cost. Last thing I want to do is install a drain and have issues before I remodel the bathroom again in 15-20 years.

geberit makes decent quality cable operated drains.

For longevity...A simple lift and turn drain is the way to go.

Still a popup. It is an "above the floor" drain with the tee on its back going sideways to the trap.

They usually have even MORE "stuff" that catches hair and they are usually a lot harder to clean out.

That is what I would use, although they are a bit more awkward in a 19" deep tub.