I use swivels 100% of the time to prevent line twist.
If you fish spinners and spoons you definitely need them but they are good to have when float fishing too. (the tiniest barrel swivels)
Used to be 5 years. The rods are sent back to PURE FISHING
I snapped my last 9'6" Salmon/Steelhead HMX rod too while using 8 Lb mono. After I got the replacement rod I sold it and moved to GL2. A different stiffer balnk but no trouble after 100+ big fish.