Teach me about climbing with sticks?

Ok, so I got a Novix Echo.

Now I'm stick shopping.

There are places where I will be hunting that the trees look like a "telephone pole farm." Meaning, tall, bare(ish) trunks. I could lug my Summit climber in to those spots, I guess. That'd handle any height at which I care to sit.

For the Echo and sticks, I feel like I would be happy with a stick setup that I can use to get at least 15', with 18' being my ideal.

I've never used sticks, let alone an aider/swaider/etc.

Just looking for some ideas on what might do the job well for me... and how to use it to best effect.

I like the Tethrd Skeletor stick, but am open to ideas. I'd prefer to stay in the price range of the Skeletor if possible.

So...questions are:

-What's a decent mid-priced stick?

and

-How can I use that stick as safely as possible to reach to 15+ feet?

I do not want to set my stand higher than my top stick. I've seen youtube videos of guys doing that, and if it works for them, cool. I would prefer not to do that.