You're 5'6". How heavy are you?
I ran full length Hawk Helium sticks for a few years and recently switched to XOP double minis. If you're just getting started, it's hard to beat the Hawk (or even XOP) price. They are heavier than the other options but the Hawks pack pretty well. There are Facebook posts about Hawk sticks bending but I've never experienced it (5'5", 130lbs) and they probably sell an order of magnitude more sticks than other manufacturers; their failures might not be any higher proportionally than what other manufacturers see (just guessing, no data to back that up).
Either way, I wouldn't spend Beast or EWO money on my first sticks. Go cheap. You might hate them.