ProMark Rich Redmond ActiveGrip Hickory Drumsticks, Wood Tip, One Pair

Bought this as a christmas gift [originally] for my best friend & fellow musician [drummer] he is always super appreciative anytime I get him something but when I mentioned they we're Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater's signature [and explained the cool active grip tech/and why mike designed em that way or what the product info said haha] he was psyched, snatched em up and started paying on his backpack. He likes them I know nothing about drums other than what I know from being a studio engineer/producer/instrumentalist and osmosis, but he noted they we're weighted more than his usual sticks [I would assume reg 5bs not sure] and he really liked the grip tech - that stuff is really cool I could even see the advantages just holding them myself... All in all 10/10 for the company!... NOW here's where the issue is I'm not going to rate these sticks poorly, for the non-care thats clearly put into storing [at this point any musical equiptment, even sticks - going to sweetwater or musicians friend &c - its always a bad idea!] these sticks in the bin, I'd assume haphazardly just tossed into a bin of them... because I had to send them back 3 times [and the third time I said screw it and hope my buddy doesn't care]First batch: they looked fine, until I was going waiting for my man to drop buy and just giving them a once over, and moving the packaging ever so slightly [in a way that REALLY made it look like someone just moved the packaging up, its a cardboard sleeve, to cover the defect and send it out NEW....cute] revealed a long scratch [ie through the black active grip technology], rotating the sticks I notice some more dings, and when I took them out all the way - there were atleats 3-4 dings in the black through to wood small but noticable... whatever, send em back - stuff happens!Second pair: Not as bad as the first ones but there were dings, a small scratch [through the active grip black tech] and looking at the bottom of the sticks they were scuffed like they had been dropped on the rounded bottom of the stick again damaging the, pretty thick mind you, active grip black "tech" thats on these promark sticks... part of the selling point! Sent it back... this time miffedThird Pair: Same issues, but this time I'm like man I feel terrible because this is a gift for my good friend, yes, he won't notice or care, but I DO! If It was just my sticks, I probably would've said screw it and kept the second pair but i wanted to get my friend ones that were NICE, signature series from an artist I know he likes or atleast thats a prolific player, and I wanted them to last [I'm forever seeing my mans piles of broken sticks, and if Im gonna pay good money I want them to be sturdy, to last as long as possible, to not have any structural integrity issues that I cannot see because they're internal perhaps!]10/10 FANTASTIC STICKS highly recommended on all levels, price points great etc.LESSON: DO NOT BUY THESE or ANY OTHER MUSICAL PIECE OF EQUIPMENT [even a small accessory] FROM AMAZON <-- They do not care enough, period. Yes I used the official buy it [not even the buy new, and AMAZON is the first and cheapest - which obstensibly is the same thing but no I did not even do that, nor would I ever buy musical equiptment from a third party through amazon... but honestly THIRD PARTY SELLERS ARE MORE COMPETENT THAN THIS [most of them] but clearly AMAZON isn't

Amazing Sticks. Very durable, they don’t seem to be wearing badly at all, and the grip is still intact and I’ve had them for a while.The grip technology on these is something else. I was extremely skeptical, and thought it may have been a gimmick or something but as soon as your hands warm up the sticks it has the perfect amount of tackiness. I couldn’t believe it. The tackiness of the sticks also helps build calluses too, so be aware you may get blisters from these if you don’t play often, but most avid players already have good build up already.I’ve played these barehanded and with gloves and both feel great. Can’t recommend these enough, it might just be a personal preference but these are up there with my favorite sticks of all time.

Coolest drum sticks. Looks cool and slip out of your hands

These are great sticks. I prefer the size/feel of the Rich Redmond 5B to the Mike Portnoy 420x ActiveGrip sticks (which are 5A) but both are good. The sticks are balanced well and not 'sticky'; they are more comfortable and gentler on my hands than wrapping sticks. I have purchased these elsewhere and they last a long time with no damage to the sticks or coating (and I play hard with lots of rim shots). I think these sticks are actually more durable than uncoated sticks.However, as other reviewers have stated, it may not be best to buy these from Amazon if you can't inspect them. The sticks that were sent appear to be 'seconds' - the red printing on them is smeared. I initially thought the active grip coating was scratched and chipped in a few locations because there are a few white spots and lines on each stick. However, when I went to a music store to buy the same sticks, I discovered that all of them had white spots. Apparently, white material from the packaging stuck to all of their sticks, but not just where the packaging was located on the base of each stick. The white lines and spots were on the surface and were able to be cleaned/scratched off of the sticks, leaving the coating underneath in-tact. So, I decided to keep the sticks from Amazon because the sticks are straight and I don't care that the red printing is smeared.