But you stop short of giving it this treatment, I guess. 
mmm
People laugh at me for it, but I’m a big fan of the old iPod socks. I miss mine, and can’t find them on the street any more. Mine was stolen by a pickpocket. 
Bookbook.
It forces a certain degree of restraint on the number of cards and stuff you carry in your wallet.
The best thing for me: I carry only one thing in my pockets. The wallet I have carried since youth is gone.
The leather breaks in nicely, and now it is like a comfortable old wallet. The camera is not horribly inconvenient to get to: I pull out the little leather tab and shake the phone into my hand. It slides out very easily after being broken in well.
My husband and I each have the Roots iPhone holder with plastic belt clip and we’re happy with it. They’re rubber and look kind of like a tire tread with a maple leaf on the back. They retail for around $25, IIRC. The belt clip is pretty secure and you can easily detach your phone when you want it.
I tried the Otterbox and really liked it for a lot of reasons - protected at the zoo, for one thing (otherwise I have to use a Ziploc bag) - but I couldn’t run with it. Way too heavy.
You laugh, but I’m serious. Due to cases, and the fact that I don’t drop them that often, my phones are usually in pristine condition when I decide to upgrade. Nary a scratch on my Bold or my Curve, for instance. Same with the phones before it. I’ve never accidentally washed them, never taken them out in the rain, never closed a car hood on them (my ex-husband did that to his phone once. I winced), never thrown them in with my keys, etc.
Hell, I’ve had my iPod Touch for what, three-four years now, and the thing doesn’t have a single scratch.
I’m awesome like that. Seriously.
I’ve only had the phone for a couple of months, so I don’t have a long experience to talk about, but I really like the OtterBox Reflex. It’s much slimmer than their Defender, and even their Commuter, I think. Supposedly it’s got “crush” zones built in like the crush panels on a car, so that the case absorbs any impact.
I’m not an engineer, so I have no idea what really happens, but I’ve dropped the phone from waist height a few times, and it’s been just fine. The case seems pretty sturdy. Also, it’s quick on and off, if you use a docking station.