if any of you do end up checking your gear - I HIGHLY reccomend Pelican cases:
www.pelican.com
i use them for any gear that is fragile or sensitive. check out the horror stories sectoin and you will see they are very durable. they arent the cheapest, but they come in every size imagineable, have an unconditional lifetime warranty, and have several different interior options to best suit your needs.
i use them for my guns, GPS systems, and just picked up a pelican case for my new laptop.