Some Things Are More Expendable Than Others
Some things that you buy are expendable by nature, it's just one of those things you have to accept. When you're a musician, particularly a drummer, you find this is overwhelmingly true. Drum heads break, guitar strings break, you lose guitar picks, you lose drum keys, cables go bad; you get the idea. Drum sticks are usually among the most expendable items for me, but every now and then you find one or two sticks that hang around without breaking for what seems like an egregiously long time. On average, I can break a stick within a week or two of regular playing. Last night, I broke a stick that I've been playing with for months though. Every time I picked it up to play and it didn't snap in half, I was pleasantly shocked.
It's almost literally half as thick in the middle of the really chewed up zone.
I guess it was the way the grain was running, the general quality of the lumber, and the slightly heavier weight that kept it around so long, but this thing was seriously put through some abuse while it was alive.
If you're curious, it's a Vater 5A (woodtip, of course). I've been playing with them for years and this is a big reason why.
Oddly enough, it didn't even end up breaking where you might have expected it to:
It actually split below where the weakest point seemed to be. I've just been a little surprised by this particulary piece of wood for several weeks now. My left hand is having to readjust to a new weight now so that's a little odd. I can't say I was attached to it, but I had definitely gotten used to drumming with that certain stick.