[JCharante]

The problem with hard shell cases is that they’ll have the side punched in instead of just bending. Maybe there are some really strong ones that aren’t heavy, but I don’t know. I usually try to travel on widebody planes which usually don’t run out of overhead space unlike narrow bodies or regional planes.

If on a small route in a small plane then it usually isn’t full.

The only time I had to gate check my bag was when I flew on a 9 seater Cessna which required all carry ons to be loaded into the nose. There was trouble confirming the landing gear was down so I was worried my laptops were going to serve as the crumple zone.