It's not at all "manly" or "tough" to skip wearing any kind of safety equipment. It's just stupid, IMO.
My father, nor any of his age group peers, wore much of anything for personal safety. They just never thought of personal safety. I don't think it was a matter of being "manly" or "tough" in my father's case, he just did not even consider wearing protection.
On the other hand, I grew up learning how to use power tools in shop class at school. Safety was first and foremost in mind. We all were required to wear personal safety equipment when working with, or around, loud and dangerous equipment in shop class. It's a habit I continued into my adulthood. I don't think of operating my power tools without the proper hearing, eye, or clothing protection.

I appreciate all those guys on YouTube who gear up with all the safety protection equipment when they operate their power tools. Young kids need to see grown men taking their personal safety seriously.

I cringe at those videos where some guy buys his first chainsaw and goes out to the backyard, in short pants, short sleeved shirt, and sandals, no hearing or eye protection, and then shows you how well his new chainsaw can cut up the tree in the backyard. Yeah, one slip and you will be cutting your leg as easily as that branch. Without a safety helmet, any chainsaw kickback can split open your head and kill you. You never see professional arborists being that cavalier about their personal safety.
Speaking directly about safety related to pallet wood projects... Today I was using a circular saw to breakdown down a couple of pallets I picked up this past week. All was going great until I hit one board that either had a bent nail on the underside of the plank, or maybe a nail embedded in the wood. Anyways, sparks went flying at that point and it stalled out my saw. Glad I was wearing protective glasses. You just never know what you might run into when working with pallets. Expect the unexpected and be safe out there.
FYI, I have an old wood blade on my circular saw that is not is great shape. It's basically only used for pallet breakdowns. I'll have to replace it soon as I have hit more than one nail with that blade and some of the teeth have been damaged. It's good enough for rough cutting the pallet wood in a breakdown, but I would not use it for any finish work where a smooth cut is required. When that old blade is no longer useable, I will be replacing it with a new demolition blade that is made to cut both wood and nails.