I managed to break two of my fathers St. Croix rods that he had for 10+ years in a single outing.... They were replaced using the gold service.
Now the story... Everyone here in South Dakota fishes for walleye. I don't fish for walleye because it bores me. We were fishing and picking up a few here and there, but it was pretty slow. My father was using two rods and I was just using one because I like to actually feel them bite. Well, he convince me to use one of his rods and get another jig down. I set the rod down and wait... Oooooh a bite... go to grab it quickly and snap. The rod caught in the cleat of the boat and I pulled it up and snapped it. Felt terrible, but figured it was the cost of having a child. Until, I did it again the same exact way, same exact spot. Now I felt terrible and stupid. Ended up paying to get them both replaced and now he has two new rods that he will hopefully have for the next 10 years. I won't touch them.