Blade Sheared into two pieces from Fall

Yes, beach marks are well known in structural failures and there is a good bit of info online.
An initial flaw can often be the starting point but it takes a series of stresses in a particular direction to cause those marks. Not a one time event.
Striations are a similar type of mark but very hard to impossible to see without magnification. Think of a shaft being bent in rotation due to misalignment or just bending something back and forth until failure. The discoloration is due to moisture getting into the crack after it has started but long enough before the complete failure so it has time to cause the corrosion that is the color change.
Sharp edges, section changes, etc., are very bad if you want to eliminate likely starting points for cracks and repetitive bending in a direction that highlights those flaws makes thing break.
I know, calling a sharp edge a flaw in a knife sounds like blasphemy when talking about knives but that's what it is from an engineering standpoint.
 
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I'd contact the guy who made it and see if you can work something out.

This. Assuming you didn't previously use it to attack car doors or something, this appears to be a straight up manufacturing defect.
 
Good thing you weren't out and about in the woods with that knife and had a survival situation pop up. It could have been a disaster for you and you may have been injured.
 
The rusted crack is a good indicator of an underlying problem. It's all pretty cut and dry at this point. I survive every day in my kitchen but this wouldn't get me all too upset. It's only a warranty problem.
 
Adding on to the other comments here, it seems pretty clear that there was a defect near the spine. This doesn't even have to be anyone's fault; sometimes steel inclusions just happen.

There are some signs of the crack propagating from fatigue but that wouldn't have occurred without a sharp crack to start with, so don't let anyone tell you it's your fault. Let us know how the maker handles it; I'm always curious to see if they stand by their products or not.
 
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