Not only do I clean my rods on a regular basis, but I wax them as well. I'm just anal though. Cold temps will not affect rods, and breakage can usually be traced back to either miss use (not fighting the fish properly) or abuse. I've blown up two rods in my life time. The first, a Loomis, was entirely my fault and the second, a 15' St Croix was a defective blank. For most major manufacturers, a factory defect is rare, which is why a lot of these big companies can offer such great warranties.