Yes of course.
But i already have hardware and software running.
Yes of course.
But i already have hardware and software running.
So right now you're running on general-purpose hardware, and trusting it to manage your private key.
If you were to use a hardware wallet, you would transfer that trust to the hardware wallet. You wouldn't be adding a trusted party, you would replacing one with the other.
Yes, in this case i would then need to shut down the software i am running to be replaced. But in this case i can also directly shut down the software and backup it to a cold drive to store BTC long term.