Longer poles are often cumbersome in a boat and it's easy to catch a tip and break it off. I personally use speaker wire or 2 sided velcro to band my rods together ANYTIME I am not using them. If I am not fishing with them at that exact time, I break them down and strap the two pieces together. I have broken tips in the past but have not broken a single tip (knock on wood) since I started banding them together when not in use. I made a note to myself to always band the rod pieces together. My buddies wonder why I never break tips and this is why. I still might break on trying to shove a jig through brush, but I don't break them in transport or when getting ready to fish.