There's probably a gazillion stories about guitar cases, here's mine: my second guitar was a Stella--extremely sturdy, very small, which I finally found a cardboard case for. I was still in high school and riding a bus to school, living in northwestern Connecticut. One winter day, I slipped going up the bus steps, the case and guitar within went flying, ending up half-in and half-out of the nearly frozen river nearby. The Stella, constructed from some sort of ironwood it seemed, survived(in fact, it sounded better after it's bath)and lasted for years. Alas, the humble cardboard case immediately dissolved from the experience. It wasn't until I managed to buy a Martin D-28 with its splendid blue case (someone once remarked that the case screams "steal me, steal me")that I actually trusted that a case could protect the instrument inside it. The blue case finally died last spring after 26 years of service, many festivals, bars, cafes, and plane flights later. Incidentally, I never send my guitar through baggage--I clutch it and act like a maniac, insisting on the right to carry it with me. This has worked so far.