Casio Ravine

[smd58]

not a geek, but need a new phone. needs to be water proof, and make calls. thats it. iam looking at the Casio Ravine the reviews read good. any thoughts

[waltah!]

If you are indeed just looking to make calls and Verizon service works for you then the Ravine does seem to get the job done. It's not overly large for a ruggedized phone.
If you decide that you want to get more out of your phone then TMobile will be launching the Motorola Defy Android smart phone soon. It's got a large display and runs Android 2.1 out of the box. I've seen that phone left sitting in a glass of water then taken out and it worked just fine. It's dust proof and scratch proof as well. TMobile's plan will certainly be cheaper as long as they have solid coverage in your area.
Either way I don't think you can go wrong.