Sceadwian I am just a beginner in the electronics field. I've been taking stuff apart for years and fixing it if it was mechanical, but couldn't do the electrical stuff. I've got a few books, like Electronics All-in-one for Dummies, How to fix everything Electronic by M. Geier, etc, and have done a few Jaycar and Elenco soldering projects. Now that I'm trying to do more intricate soldering projects they all warn about ESD safe protection. So I upgraded my soldering station from the Jaycar one which wasn't ESD safe to a Hakko FX888D which is, brought a couple of ESD mats with the obligatory wrist strap, and even got ESD safe tweezers for when I'm putting components in place.
Mostly I'm scared because I live in a house with really thick shagpile which does cause static. I'm not 100% sure on earthing/discharging myself before I start working on stuff and it worries me when picking up a meter or the Malone DMMCheck. I keep the DMMCheck in the ESD bag it came with, but the other meters in the foam case worried me. Now I keep them in their individual bags and will only use the Safe Case if I have to take them somewhere with me so I can lock it.
I haven't heard of ESD shorting sockets so will have a look into them. Thank you for the reassurance. I appreciate it.