JB,

I don't personally know if the Otis kit is reliable as I have not used it yet(I got one a couple of weeks ago from my cousin who imports them), but I do know that various military units use it, and the "rod" is a made from a wire cable that is covered in a plastic sheath. So the "rod" can't be broken.

The only thing is that the small brushes can obviously be lost, but then that goes for all brushes.

Erik