As an FYI for you guys, I changed my oil this afternoon for the 3rd time (18017 miles) and when I went to put my dip stick back in I noticed that the plastic 'T' handle had seperated from the plastic tube that slides down over the metal tube on the engine which holds it in place. It basically disintegrated like dried out plastic. Luckily the parts department was still open and had some in stock. I drove my old f150 up there and had taken a picture of the truck mileage with my phone. At first they were refusing to honor it under warantee because technically it is supposed to be replaced by them. After assuring them I refused to drive the truck with a broken dip stick, they saw my way!
The service guy stated that they had seen quite a few broken dip sticks. I would of hated to be pulling my 5vr down the interstate under load and have the dip stick blow out the motor due to the broken plastic....

 

It won't blow out, but worst case scenario it will get a little contamination in the oil. Worst case it might take out the low pressure oil pump, but beyond that everything goes through the filters which should pick it all up. I've replaced a couple on our 03 F550s. Have not had a problem with them in that regard, and they get run in extremely dusty conditions during the summer in Yuma, AZ. I wouldn't be afraid to drive it anywhere like that. Heck I've put on over 100 miles like that before I could get one replaced.