CQ10m SpE FT-757GX & 5/8th vertical working the weak & v weak out of Sweden & Poland

So I heard the Swedish beacon on 10m albeit very weak so took a chance calling CQ10m.
Lo & behold, first reply was George SB7S.
Interesting as I was at 50W with an old rig & silver rod. He was 1KW with a newer rig and a beam, yet we were at similar signal strengths...
That was followed by Slawo SQ1FYY. Very Weak, but we swapped reports, locators and some tech details...