Safety

What kind of protective wear? Money belt? Unsafe how? Money belt type devices are very useful in touristy areas where pickpockets are prevalent. The best strategy is to use it as a mobile safe. Store your passport, cards, and excess cash inside the belt under your clothes clothes and don't access it in public. Inside your wallet or purse you should just keep a days spending money and perhaps one credit card if you have multiple cards. This way if you do get robbed it will just be limited a days cash and it won't ruin your trip. Money belts don't prevent you from being robbed they just cut your losses.

Sounds like excessive paranoid or reading the wrong sites. However, remember that only people who have had problems post about the problems. People who do not not problems rarely post that they had no problems. So most travel sites tend to over emphasis the problems of travel. Sure, people are pickpocket along with other petty theft, but a few precautions on your part can reduce your probability of problems to near zero. Over the past 18 years or so we have spent nearly a year in Europe, a month in Italy, and never had any problems. Could have problems on the next trip. We dress modestly, min jewelry, cameras, etc, use a money belt CORRECTLY, and just use some street smarts as we move about. I am more comfortable in Rome than I am in New York city. And I have never had any problems in New York either except that I am a little concerned about being mugged in New York.

Protective-ware like what? We bought a Pac-Safe backpack for our most recent trip and it was nice to be able to lock off all the zippers before we went into a crowded situation like a train or a bus, but other than that you just need to take sensible precautions. Cities in Italy are much safer than cities in the US, but I don't know how much comfort that will be. Go to Rick's Travel tips here and read the sections on Safety.

I'm also curious as to what you mean by "protective ware." A moneybelt, neck pouch, belt-loop pouch or Pacsafe bag are all good options for securing your money/passport/cards. Pick-pocketing does happen so it's unwise to use a wallet (stuffed in any pocket) or just a regular purse. But other than that, there aren't any realistic dangers that you face, and pick-pocketing is a stealth operation, not at all like a mugging or violent. Though not mentioned, I'll through out the warning that protective ware better not include anything like mace or pepper spray - such things are often highly illegal in European countries.