[sky13]

I've always had soft shell cases - currently have a couple of really nice light ones from Samsonite that have been on several trips with me and have held up pretty well.

I must admit though that I'd never even heard of luggage getting left out of the rain in thunderstorms until I read about that here! (We get thunderstorms all the time here but not heard of anyone I know living here who has ever gotten their luggage soaked at the airport here...)