I love Pro Mark sticks. They are my "go-to" choice. Never an issue, especially the Active Grip. I use this so I am comfortable playing without the worry of dropping a stick too often (or not at all). 5A worked great for me but I thought I could use a lighter gauge so it's lighter to handle overall, without too much fatigue, especially playing for over 2hours set.
So I went for the 7A. I own a pair of standard 7A for few years now and they do all what I want, so I was happy to get 7A in Active Grip ... until my last gig, and within 1hour into the gig, first time using them, the olive tip split in two... I mean it can happen but after few gigs I don't mind, and, again, I am usually very satisfied with Pro Mark, but the quality on those was not good, especially to break within 1hour. Not good at all. Maybe a bad batch...but I think I'll "stick" to 5A for a while. I think I wasted €17 overall