Tyeflies,
Sometimes I have trouble communicating. The rod that I broke snapped in half because the line got caught on a crawdad trap at Paulina Lake. I have seen rods take a lot of bending and not break but they had all been glass rods up until then.
I have never sent a rod back to the manufacturer and it it was my fault that it broke then for many yrs I just bought a new glass rod.
I found when I bought my Orvis rod many yrs ago, I had a tendency to baby it and be more careful with it. You can understand that if I grow up with cheap glass rods and graphite comes along, then I thought I was playing it safe because Orvis had a good reputation.
I have never bought a rod because of the warranty. If I like the rod then I will live with the warranty. My fishing life changed because I went from glass to graphite and I was not happy about paying more money but I listened to advice from Kaufmann's Fly Shop in Tigard OR back in 77 and depended on them for many yrs. and that was before they had a NO FAULT warranty across the industry.
I have never bought a 500.00 flyrod nor will I ever. I wanted a sensible good quality rod that I wouldn't feel guilty paying for. That is what I love about my Ross reel also.
Doug