It's hard to argue against Marc's perspective. I still have a Halliburton 16x20 formed aluminum camera case that I bought 30 yrs ago for my Nikon F2s. The camera is useless from deterioration of the light seals but the case is fully functional, albeit with some scars. The main scars are from my father (RIP) leaving it on the roof of his car and driving off after taking a picture of Mt Lassen and having the closed (thankfully) case fall off the roof at 25 mph or so.
I've had two or three Americase's but I'm not sold on their construction and ability to withstand a drop. They are heavy in the multibarrel/tube models and the simple pop rivet construction looks good and "feels stout" from all the weight, but I'm betting the heavier models will fail if dropped. They're fine for most car/truck travel but I don't trust their construction for airline travel where a good fall from a conveyor or cargo ledge is a real probability.
Oak & leather is for display or the controlled outing to the local field during fair weather while protected in it's canvas cover and placed in a carpet lined trunk of a car and strapped down. I can't imagine anyone with their sanity putting a $3k case in the back of my leaky campershelled pickup and piling lawnchairs and icechests on it, then driving 2,000 miles.
