Couple of comments whether you want them or not: If I slam a rod in a car door, I consider that my own damn fault and wouldn't expect to have it covered by any rod manufacturer. LL bean blanks are made by G. Loomis for LL Bean. Loomis does not sell those blanks under their name (althougb I noticed a distinct similarity between the new Loomis Nautikos rod and the LL Bean SPT- I wonder?) It also seems to me that one of the famous fishing outfits is getting farther away from the fishing end of things and are more interested in selling sweaters and wide-whale corderoys (the margin on clothes is significantly better than fishing gear)..