Originally Posted by journeyman Mick
I too suffer from tinitus and have reduced hearing despite always having worn good quality hearing protection when working in noisy environments. You're not being a wuss, just protecting non replaceable parts.
I always wear steel cap boots when using any kind of tools (including mowing and other garden activities). Same as Scoob-Doo, never wear gloves when operating tools or machinery, just for coarse manual handling. Safety glasses, face shields and breathing protection (twin cartridge type or Racal powered face shield) as required. You may feel self conscious wearing the stuff now (it'll soon wear off, I once drove home with my earplugs in and hard hat on) but you'll feel pretty damn stupid the rest of your life if you injure yourself badly. :( Keep doing the right thing Count.
Mick