Personally, I am a big fan of Vic Firth. I just use standard 5A hickory sticks, unless I'm playing something heavier then I move up to 5B. When I'm playing jazz or ballads, I will generally use Zyldjian jazz, though those are the only Zyldjian sticks I will ever use.
Also, as far as drum pads go, I found a treasure of one.
It looks like a snare head. It's quiet and bouncy, and if you don't like the head it comes with you can change it for any drum head that suits your preference.
It's called a Quiet-Tone, and it's made by Sabian. They're PRICEY (mine cost me just over $70.00... damn my Canadian-ness...) but well worth it if you play a lot of concert snare or practice pad a lot.
They look like this:
![User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.](https://graphics.gaiaonline.com/images/s.gif)
Pretty awesome stuff.
Before that I was just using a crappy Remo pad that was LOUD and it was used and abused so much it went soft and hardly had any bounce left to it, so I needed a new one.
I'll swear by these drum pads.