The X45 is hardly durable. So far it's a nice stick, but everyone I talked to who had it for a while said to get any kind of in-store replacement, because the hats do break. Though mine still work.
The most durable, while still inexpensive, joystick I've found is the thrustmaster afterburner. It's made of cheap looking plastic, but is unbelievably solid. Mine lasted through some 3000-4000 hours of hard use before finally starting to go. It also offers the option to use a rocker on the throttle(like the x45, only much more comfortable to use) or the twist on the joystick(which locks, solidly, and without any wobble).
The great thing I noticed about it is that, the springs on the movement remained crisp. After alll that use, it still centers perfectly, even the twist is nice and crisp still. My cyborg which was only used for a few hundred hours barely centered anymore. Even my X45 after only a couple months is showing signs of it.
