Well - I can comment on this as I recently had a nasty accident with my gear at a wedding.Managed to knock the 5D with 24-70 2.8 L and 580EX flash off a limestone wall for a metre+ fall onto concreteThat is about $8000 AU worth of gear. The terrible thing was that I didn't even know I had done it until I heard the sound of my gear hitting the concrete behind me.The hard plastic Canon lens hood definitely saved the lens, 5D has a little scuff (not as bad as when I took a fall on a glacier with it) and the 580EX snapped at the bottom. Fortunately this is a sacraficial part designed by Canon for events just like this - cost me $45 to get the part.So - total cost for repair of possible $8000 accident - $45 plus delivery fee for overnight freight of $10 = $55 AU. Thanks Canon for great design. Thank you God for my little miracle.The moral of the story - be more careful Chris... and spend the extra for the original plastic lens hood.Despite how all this sounds I do take good care of my gear - but accidents do happen.