Thanks for all the help. I am amazed at how little information there is online about Monopods. There's tons about tripods and even just about heads but the information on Monos is very limited.
Given that Chistmas is closing in on us I went ahead and ordered the Gittos MM9780 so that my wife can have it in time to give to me
The main points about it that decided me were its overall height of ~70in, collapses to 21in, is rated at 33lbs, has a retracting spike, and costs $56. The fact that Gittos includes a carry bag is a nice plus but wasn't a deal breaker for me either way.