NP Guss...
Nice speaking with ya...
The Ahead sticks are pretty durable... took me 2 1/2 months to break the pair I owned back in the day. I never bought them again because I felt they were too limiting since you couldn't use the back half of the stick for anything. They felt great though... really increased my ability to play longer...
Zildjian makes some sticks with vibration reduction in them... if you end up looking for something different. I think there have been a few folks here raving about them.
There are lots of really good sticks out there... problem in when you switch playing styles you know real fast if the stick you are using isn't right. I may still keep a pair of hickory sticks in my bag if the oak ones don't meet my needs... but so far I enjoy the precision.