Good Post and I am sure everyone has a war story or two. And here is mine-

To Fishforlife and Rob Allan-Yes it does! I got a spoon stuck in a tree on the other side of the river. I yanked and on the third or fourth try the spoon came back at me warp speed. The spoon struck my Loomis GL 3 and caused a nick and small crack or I thought a small crack. A year later when I went to set the hook the rod broke right there at the nick. Loomis replaced the rod for $50.00.

To fly persons every where-I got a fly caught in a tree, yes once again, on the other side of the river. I started waving my Sage XP up and down to get the fly out of the bush. Yep, my $610 fly rod snapped. I learned the hard way that with the newer "fast tip" rods you never want to wave one up and down and generate a lot of speed and energey. Sage replaced the rod for shipping and handling fees.

The two thing I leaned were not to cast to tree's and bushes on the other side of the river. And always buy a rod that has a good warranty.