If a liner lock fails like that it is not because of the design, it's a fine tuned setup and it was either dirty or shouldn't have passed inspection, Kershaw actually has a pretty good warranty, I work down the street from their Tualatin Oregon facility and they have a factory sale every year, been going since like '97 so you could say I have a Kershaw or two

. That said I like fixed blades for that type of work, too hard to clean most folders anyway... sucks you had that situation though!
I keep a cheap Kershaw clipped to my pocket all the time and a Leatherman E4 multi tool that has wire strippers and such, they're handy little things that I've carried every day since '08... shame they've been discontinued for a long time, the used market on them is insane, they used to be $35 new now they go for $75-250 on Ebay...