I had an older Volent model 8 wt. I laid it aacross the pram while I landed a good fish. Of course it went swimming, sinking reel first. I grabbed the tip; hint, let the reel sink until rod is straight down and hold the line. By holding tip with rod still nearly horizontal you REALLY overstress the tip.

Since this is an older rod,no tip sections were available. They offered me a 40% discount off any and all products. This seems like a good deal for both of us; I save a bunch on an upgraded model; 60% of retail probably covers their cost or nearly so. My price on a similar but newer model would have been about $84.00 Allin all I'm quite happy as the breakage is clearly not a product defect, and the model is no longer made.