I had the great pleasure of having a delayed flight to Hamilton Island once, so was at the gate and got to see the baggage handler throw my car mate about 10-12 feet up into the baggage hold of the plane, wasn't concerned and no problem. Mine has been to new cal, Fiji, NZ, Nth Qld multiple times, it has some scratches and scuffs but ive never had a rod damaged in it. I actually don't mind that the shell is a little flexible because I assume this means it is not brittle and less likely to crack.
