When working in the shop do you prefer to wear a shop apron a tool belt or neither?
For the longest time I solely depended on the pockets of my jeans to hold my tools but years ago while my wife and I still lived in a condo I started using a shop apron for the first time. At the time space was limited. The only area available for woodworking was our small deck (approximately 40 square feet). One of the only tools I could use that provided a variety of project options and did not require a large footprint was the lathe. Although it was fairly heavy to move it was small enough to move in and out of the outdoor storage closet was my lathe. Since the lathe kicks up a mass amounts of sawdust, coving you from head to toe (which I would inevitably track into the house), I decided to pick up a shop apron at Rockler.
There are plenty of great things about the shop apron. In addition to simply protecting a large portion of your clothes from being covered by sawdust, glue, stain etc., it also allows provides much easier access to your commonly used items such as pencil, notepad, tape measure, scraps of sandpaper etc. always available. The downside to the shop apron, is a slight restriction of range of motion. Not to say that you are truly restricted in your range of motion, it just makes you feel like you are wearing a kilt. You can still move in any direction, however if you are using the shop apron and have to swat down for any reason you will understand what I mean.
Depending on the project or part of a project I am working on will determine the option I use. For tasks that allow me to stand in one place such as working on the lathe or bandsaw for extended periods of time I will almost always use the shop apron. For most other projects that require a range of motion I will use one of my tool belt options. While I do have a large contractor tool belt, I never use it. I will always use one of two options; either my small tool belt with built in strap or one that simply clips onto my existing belt keeping my pants from falling down.
Note: I have heard the counter argument for using a shop apron: The lower pockets fill with sawdust when using the lathe. Well, the same thing happens with either shop apron or a tool belt. But in my humble opinion I would rather the pockets of the shop apron be filled with sawdust than be covered head to toe.
