I've had them splinter on me too (pro-mark). That and warp on me before as well (for whatever reason or the other). Like I said earlier though, I never used
vaters before. In fact, I've never used
vic firth or
zildjian sticks either. I've always used pro-marks. No particular reason. When I first started out playing I used pro-marks and have been using them ever since. Originally, I played on the 5A's for the longest time until a few years ago, I switched to the 747's. I'm a bit more comfortable playing with those. Anyhow, a friend of mine uses
zildjian sticks and I have thought about trying those out to see how they feel and play? Maybe I'll give the
vaters a shot too? But I guess it's one's personal preference like everything else really. And like you said, "If you don't like em o well."