2017 Camry Hood Strut Mod?

I experienced the first hood strut failure of my life and have determined that gas hood struts literally make no sense. Why have two unreliable sticks hold up my hood in the most reliable line of vehicles on the planet? An iron rod will never fail and does the job perfectly fine. I was wondering if anybody has ever modified a 2017 Camry to use a hood prop rod.

It seems like something that could be jerry-riggable, but also seems like it could be more trouble than it's worth.