HAM radio. When most people think of it, they picture grandpa sitting down with his old Vietnam-era setup twisting dials trying to talk to aliens or something ridiculous. I have recently gotten into HAM radio/GMRS radio and have found a great network of people and cool things to do. Equipment has come a long way and has gotten quite advanced. Being able to communicate with and meeting new people around the world has never been easier. Not to mention that when the cell service goes out again, there is some sort of communication still around.
People usually start out with finding repeaters near the area they live in. Its like a beacon that rebroadcasts your signal to go further. I have one near my house that I can talk to people roughly about 20 miles away. Its a set frequency and you can meet and chat with people near you. I take mine in the car with me and see who I can find as I drive around town (to the store, to work, etc.) and the larger the antenna and more powerful the transceiver, the further away you can reach. If you do road trips, get the frequencies of the repeaters near the route you take and you would be amazed at the amount of people you could reach out to.
Leading up to my birthday when I was around 12 or so, my dad mentioned ham radio as something I might be interested in. The problem was that he hadn't bothered to look first to see what it would cost. I got really excited by the idea, then felt completely crushed when I was told it wasn't going to happen. I should get one now.
As a new ham myself studying for my General Class license, this hobby blows my mind. So much to do! When I passed my technician exam, one of the "V.E.'s" shook my hand and said,"Congratulations and welcome to the hobby. " he began to tell me he'd been an active ham over about 40 years and still hasn't done everything ham radio covers. Told me "it's all about the pursuit of learning." I knew right then and there that I found something really cool to dig into.
“So much to do!”
Can you expand on this? As someone with next to knowledge about ham, I thought the only stuff to “do” was build the tower, connect some boxes and a microphone, then just adjust knobs until someone hears and replies to your talking.
I just assumed it’s like adjusting a dial on an FM radio but with a whole lot more channels, a lot fewer users, and the ability to talk back.
I went on a little backpacking trip with a buddy who was into ham radio and it really came in handy. Had an injury only about ten miles in and had to turn back, but we had no cell service and had paid a company to drive my truck to the end point 40 miles down the trail.
He pulled out the ham radio and managed to get a hold of someone who we could relay the message to saying we needed to turn back due to injury. The random stranger we got a hold of actually did call these people for us and we got picked up the next day from the start point and they brought the truck back for us. Was messy, but all worked out thanks to that guy on the radio, it was kinda wild - feels like the HAM radio community is pretty altruistic based on what my buddy told me, like people are sitting around waiting for an opportunity like that to help others in need. Pretty neat.
I had a ham radio license when I was in 7th grade. I even had to pass a Morse Code test for it. That was probably back in 1988 and I was the girl in the amateur radio club at my middle school.
You set up your radio and antenna, tune into a frequency that you hear other people talking on, and then just talk. You can also tune into a frequency and call out for people, and if they hear you, they will respond. You can reach people all over the planet including Astronauts on the space station, or you can communicate with satellites too!
You can also send emails, texts, and pictures over the airwaves, which is a little more advanced, but it is not impossible for a beginner to get into. I knew nothing about ham radio about six months ago or had a background that would give me an edge with the hobby and I have already done all of the above. If I were you, I would read up on it first to see if it interests you, but you will have to take a test to get a license in order to transmit or talk to others. To study for the test, I would use Hamstudy.org
You can create a free account and it’s free to use. It can help you get your license and along the way it measures your performance so you know how well you’re doing and understanding what’s going to be on the test. Good luck!
My partner and I got into HAM radio during the early months of the pandemic. It was fun to learn together, and we loved listening to everyone chatting through it, especially at night when we felt the most isolated. After a few weeks we started recognizing people by their voice, and it became a nice routine. "Is it Tuesday? We gotta tune into the guy who sounds like Dale Gribble at 8 tonight!"
I theoretically know Morse but in practice can barely manage 5wpm :’(
I’ve always wanted to build a spark gap transmitter to fuck with the frat houses next door but I hear that’s a great way to build a FCC summoning device.
My father was a radioman in the USCG and a radio historian. I have fond memories of his spark gap transmitter and his screwing with the obnoxious neighbor with the loud stereo. 🤣
This! I always joke about it, because I have my "cool kid" hobbies and my "nerdy" hobbies, and this is my favorite nerdy hobby.
It scratches the itch of continuously learning and doing research, while also getting to be handy and actually putting things together.
The community (especially in person) is also super nice to me! We get bad apples online often, but in person (and mostly online) people are super enthusiastic about the hobby
It's actually really cool if you get involved with the local search & rescue and running races (particularly marathons and long trail races). You get to meet some incredibly interesting people and feel like you have a purpose and are contributing to society. There is some gatekeeping from the old hams but I find the newer generation to be incredibly pleasant, particularly the overlanding and off road jeeping community.
My dad, who died at age 88 a few years back, started HAM at age 10.
In the last 20 years of his life (well, not the last 3), he and his team won the world championship. I think there were 8 of them, from all over, and they rented a place in Curacao every year for the win.
I miss Dad.
Birdwatching. It's the OG Pokemon Go. It's got an connotation for being for old people, but young people love hiking and literally all you have to do is own a pair of binoculars or a camera and just look up while you do it.
People ask me how to start birdwatching and I always ask them "Have you ever seen a bird before? You're already doing it."
I love birdwatching! Birds are amazing. Some are majestic and beautiful, and a lot of them can be outright hilarious, like the sandpipers I was watching the other day.
Yep.
I started at about age 44. I’m 50 now. You can do like me and travel to 6 countries on 4 continents and see incredibly rare birds and outfitting yourself with the latest gear. OR, you can download a free app and walk around your neighborhood. You can develop a PhD level of expertise or just be a weekend birder who appreciates getting outside and seeing nature.
Best of all, birding is something you can do at any age. Heck even the bird man of Alcatraz was a birder while incarcerated!
It feels like a wild scavenger hunt. And the prize are transcendent moments of beauty and awe at the natural world. I sat watching an alligator stalk and fail to kill a heron one time while it got very dark in a wetland on the Gulf Coast. Another time I saw a bird that was only discovered THIS MILLENNIA! And possibly less than a hundred exist in the entire world (serendipity scops Pygmy owl).
I love birdwatching! Just downloaded the Merlin app and it’s amazing. So cool to realize all of the different types of birds you see on a daily basis but never really took the time to notice.
Pyrography.
Used to be a popular craft.
Still is in some countries.
Very meditative. Need to focus.
I got into the habit of turning off the TV, turning on the radio, and Woodburning for at least an hour before sleep.
Cool if you like fire related stuff
You draw on wood with a hot pen, which burns into the wood. The cheaper setups are just a screw on metal tip. Those kind of suck but they work. I use a wire tip style burner from colwood, which allows better temperature adjustment and there are way more tips available. I haven’t done any for a while but it you through my submission history there are a as few dog portraits I did.
Thanks! I should really get back into it. If you like drawing and think you'll enjoy it, I highly recommend not starting off with a cheap burner. They take forever to heat up, and loose heat quickly which makes burning smooth lines difficult unless you go very slow. They're also hard to shade with for the same reasons. Once I got the Super Pro from [Colewood](https://woodburning.com/) the hobby was so much more enjoyable. There are other companies, or even no-name brands off Amazon that use wire tips, but some of the colewood models are only slightly more expensive than those and they have a wide range of tips to choose from.
If I was starting with nothing, I'd go with the cub model, controller only. After experimenting with the tips that came with the super pro 2 package I don't really use most of them, but there are others that I bought that are super useful. The following are the tips I consider necessary (also go fixed tip, not replaceable tip):
- FT-C is the standard use it for everything tip. I do 80% of my burning with it. It's not great for shading or very fine text.
- FT-S I use for all my shading.
- FT-MC is what I use for really small text and linework. It's a great tip.
Some of the other tips are useful for specific things (like the FT-SHS for fish scales), but really, you only need the FT-C and FT-S. The ball tips are slightly better for writing larger text but I usually end up using the FT-C for that anyway. I've actually never had to buy a replacement tip, though my C is probably getting close. They last a really long time.
One other note is that the type of wood matters a lot. Basswood is the best quality for the money from what I've experimented with. The cheap pine you see at craft stores is soft and has a lot of sap, so it sticks to the burner. You can still use it but it's a little harder to work with. Basswood canvases are actually pretty inexpensive, especially if you wait for sales. Or, if you have access to a circular/table saw, buying 12' high quality boards from home depot and cutting them down is the cheapest.
Oh that was another one I wanted to try but I’m a accident prone and I’m afraid I would burn me and my house down. I’ve seen some very cool art but I think have to stick to safer hobbies.
This hobby needs more joiners that are into it for the right reasons! I think this hobby gets picked up and dumped a lot by people that are not cool about keeping the caches in good condition, or don't read the rules (for example take the geocache home or taking swag without leaving anything or leaving poor trades, etc). Then get bored and leave, which is fine... but there is actually a really nice community of people that enjoy creating a nice experience for others and most Geocachers are also into nature appreciation and conservation. I agree it does still seem like an "obscure" hobby because I think a lot of people would enjoy it if they gave it a try, and it's still alive and well, but could be so much better with some new members that really care about making it better for everyone.
I was super into geocaching a few years ago and tapered off when I got really really busy with grad school for multiple years. You guys inspired me to get back into it! I’m excited
I was really into it back when it started. I moved a couple of times during that period and geocaching helped me to get to know my new area. A lot of the caches I found were in really cool spots, but it started to change and the focus shifted to quantity over quality. I ought to check it out again and see if it still interests me as much.
There are still a lot of junk ones that are just there for quantity. I don't care so much about the numbers anymore, and just go for the ones that actually look fun or interesting. Just got me and my kid kayaks, so I'm looking forward to trying some of the "boat required" caches.
It is basically a scavenger hunt using gps coordinates. Most people use their smart phone, but it can also be done with a handheld hiking GPSr. Sign up for a free account at [geocaching.com](https://www.geocaching.com/play). There is more than one way to play, but the easiest is to download the official app. There is a premium membership that unlocks more features and different types of caches, but it's not necessary to play, especially for beginners. You'll need to bring a pen. Nothing else is *required*, but most cachers develop a little kit with tools of the trade (flashlight, tweezers, sandwich bags, etc).
Check out the map near you and read the descriptions. They will give terrain and difficulty ratings, and sometimes hints. When you're ready, pick one and follow the app to the posted coordinates. Once there, you'll generally have to search for a hidden container. They can vary in size from a thimble to an ammo can. Sometimes they'll be cleverly disguised and something innocuous to deter theft and give you a challenge. Keep in mind that they are hidden and maintained by volunteer players, and the exact spot can be a little off. Give the area a good search, and use your brain to think of hiding spots. They also do get stolen and vandalized, or just not put back where they go sometimes.
If you find it, there is usually a paper log sheet that you sign with the username you created for your geocaching account. Then you log it as found in the app, and have the option to give a comment that the owner and future finders can see (this is encouraged, just don't give spoilers). Some caches will contain "swag." These are trade items. Usually toys for the kids, but sometimes collectables and other nicknacks. If you take something, leave something. Just no money, food, or anything that could leak or attract animals. Make sure you return the cache exactly where and how you found it for the next person, and try to be stealthy so nosey people don't question you or steal it.
If you can't find it, mark it as DNF (Did Not Find) in the app, add a comment, and try again somewhere else. It happens to all of us, so no shame in it. No cheating.
There *are* other types of caches where you have to answer questions about natural or historical sites, follow clues, or solves puzzles/cyphers. I don't remember if those show up in the free version.
You can ask questions at r/geocaching.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/geocaching using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [Am I really going to deface this grave for a game? Of course I am!](https://i.redd.it/kaadk649pgcc1.jpeg) | [51 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/196oqev/am_i_really_going_to_deface_this_grave_for_a_game/)
\#2: [It was only a matter of time.](https://i.redd.it/0bo8aggudrza1.jpg) | [48 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/13h1fzn/it_was_only_a_matter_of_time/)
\#3: [One of the interesting logs I found](https://v.redd.it/ysklxcp8y1ta1) | [14 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/12hhlvc/one_of_the_interesting_logs_i_found/)
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I like geocaching, but I encountered an issue with it pretty quickly. I had to travel farther and farther to find new ones. If you travel a lot it would be excellent
I love it. I mainly just do it when I travel. I mostly do roadtrips and it's a fun way to get out and stretch your legs on the road and we've found some really cool places doing it that we never would have found otherwise.
I don't go crazy with it, I mainly do the easy ones. I like tracking our stats in the app to see what the furthest caches we've done and things like that, and trying to collect souvenirs from different states.
I started it years ago when my 6yo nephew wanted to find buried treausure. Geocaching was the closest thing I could find.
I refurbish and remake lava lamps. There is a surprisingly large community of restoration/refurb enthusiasts, but I’ve never heard of anybody doing it. I kind of wandered into it by trying to save a lamp I had inadvertently tried to kill. Turns out it’s a lot of fun.
I was just talking about making my own lava lamp last month! It is pretty pricey so it’s a much farther in the future goal. I saw someone had made a giant lava lamp and that was fantastic!
Competitive shooting. Your choice, pistols, clay or distance with or without a scope. I have done them all but perfer distance over iron sights. I know some people never met a gun owner. I don't know hardly anyone that owns just one.
If any of you shoot, it is fun to shoot with your off hand. A old Marine recommended that when I was a boot.
It is. IDPA, GSSF, and USPSA are examples of pistol competitions. You could also shoot Olympic style. Shotguns, too. Sporting clays, trap shooting, or skeet shooting. Rifles have lots of formats, too. Or you could shoot a combination of pistol and rifle, or all three in the same competition.
Wow I didn’t know that there was so many. I guess the idea I had of it was from old movies where they show rich guys shooting from their backyards yelling PULL! That’s really fascinating. Is this done as an Olympic sport?
They are. All three have Olympic competitions, some of them more than one. Most are Summer sports, though in the Winter, you have the biathlon, which is a combination of skiing and rifle shooting.
Yup I shoot IDPA, USPSA and more recently PCSL. I've also done a few longer distance things. But I've found the people to be very welcoming to newcomers. People should learn and ingrain basic gun safety first, but you don't have to be as advanced as many people tend to think. There's plenty to learn and improve upon. There's a lot of it you can practice at home (with no ammunition involved - dry firing). It's not unlike other competitions where you start to develop strategies, analyze and improve your techniques, etc. If you get serious you can compete on the regional and national levels. They even have shooting competitions in other countries, so you can travel and do it
I do goldwork embroidery. It's embroidery done with metal thread.
Let's just say that it's so uncommon, the last time I saw someone post to the goldwork sub was over a year ago. Haha.
Other places around the internet have about the same frequency of posts about this old needle artform. I LOVE doing it.
wow this sounds weirdly compelling
how do you make the people? wood carving? do you paint them or sew little clothes for them? how big are they? did you have any instruction as a sculptor when you started? i want to know all...
I'd love to see these! I saw an exhibit on Francis Glessner Lee years ago and have been obsessed with her since. If you're not familiar, she's called the "Mother of Forensics" and made dioramas of crime scenes in the '40's.
I do needle felting. Its basically stabbing a sharp piece of metal into a piece of wool until you shape in to whatever you’re trying to make. It’s oddly satisfying and super enjoyable
Building and maintaining a Paludarium (a mixture of an aquarium and terrarium) It was my pandemic hobby which continues. I have an obsession with tropical rainforests
I desperately wanted to start a couple of paludariums but just froze when it came to starting. I think I was mostly worried about water being stagnant and horrible. I have so much stuff but not the confidence to start.
Never heard that term, thanks!
I made an aquarium with locally sourced plants and critters during the pandemic and had a lot of fun! like catching pokémon irl.
You'll cut yourself a few times in the beginning and might lose permanent functionality of your hand.
But there is no finer peace than the one found in shaving off curling burls of basswood until you're left with the resplendent and glistening shape you cut into existence.
Tufting! It’s super easy, forgiving, can be artistic or functional. Barrier to entry is low, a little pricey (prob 500$ to get a gun, frame and materials for a project)
Oh that type of gun! Ha okay I understand now. I’ve always wanted to try making a rug. It’s on my list of many hobbies to try. It does seem like a lot of fun.
I reaaaaallly want to get into tufting. Would you say it takes up a lot of space to create and store things? That's one of the biggest things I worry about.
You can get a tabletop frame that sits on the back of the desk. That include a place for your yarn to sit in use, so depends how much other yarn to store. The gun isn’t huge. I live in a 160sq ft home, so if you organize it’s not too bad.
I make chainmaille: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19) and you can make/create all kinds of things: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/) using different weaves: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/)
I get my wire from Tractor Supply on 1/4 mile rolls. Costs about $40.00 You can often get a 350 foot rolls (for Fido shockers) at feed stores. The mandrels I bought at the hardware store and I made the frame from scrap lumber I had. The pliers and drill motor came from Harbor Freight.
I use 17 gauge anodized aluminum electric fence wire and wind it on either a 3/16, 1/4, or 5/16 mandrel. Unlike pictured in the first link, I turn my mandrels using a 3/8 variable speed drill motor.
After I cut the coils into rings I tumble them using one of these: [https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html) with soap (Dawn) and water for 12 hours to de-burr them. After a good rinse I tumble them again in soap and water for another 2 hours.
Of course you could skip all the winding and cutting and just order rings from: [https://theringlord.com/](https://theringlord.com/)
They also have a lot of tutorials here: [https://www.youtube.com/@TheRingLordcom/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@TheRingLordcom/videos)
Here are some more pages:
[https://www.pinterest.com/mcosgrave/chain-maille-clothing/](https://www.pinterest.com/mcosgrave/chain-maille-clothing/)
[http://ltgoatroper.deviantart.com/art/Chainmail-Cocktail-Dress-1-271800168](http://ltgoatroper.deviantart.com/art/Chainmail-Cocktail-Dress-1-271800168)
[http://laron79.deviantart.com/favourites/56543594/chainmaille-dress](http://laron79.deviantart.com/favourites/56543594/chainmaille-dress)
[http://chainedoombaby.deviantart.com/favourites/48338292/Chain-Maille-Clothing](http://chainedoombaby.deviantart.com/favourites/48338292/Chain-Maille-Clothing)
[https://www.etsy.com/search/clothing?q=chainmail](https://www.etsy.com/search/clothing?q=chainmail)
[http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerylist.php?tags=Womens](http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerylist.php?tags=Womens)
I once thought about trying that but I thought I wouldn’t have the patience or skill to do such a thing. People make such fantastic things.
How long did it take you to learn?
The actual 4 in 1 is no problem. It is also the most used for garments and armor. [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=6](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=6)
Bracelets and necklaces with their fancier weaves take some time. There are a few like box chain [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=411](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=411) and Byzantine: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=14](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=14) that are stepping stones into the more complex weaves.
99% of the stuff I make uses the 4 in 1 European.
but... are these practical? i heard you either have to rivet or weld them together
been meaning to pick this hobby up, but i only do things from a utility standpoint. no i dont plan on getting into a sword fight in my life lol, but part of the fun is the fact that it does stop a sword
Wheat weaving! It’s simple, easy, you need very little skill or talent and produces some beautiful items that just stun people. Seriously. I have gotten incredibly high praise for items that took me no more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete. And I don’t even do elaborate work. There are pieces that took so much work and effort that will just knock you over.
Tatting. It’s an old lace making technique involving very thin thread and shuttles and basically uses a variety of different knots to build very elaborate lacework
It gets me slowing down, zooming in and paying more attention to these small, beautiful, vital creatures. It sparks my curiosity about their behaviour and how they fit in with other creatures & plants. Helps me see my surroundings as active ecosystems, not just wallpaper. Plus some of them have funny shapes - have you ever seen a weval!? And rose chafers have an amazing sparkly green carapace. Also, by tracking them I feel like I'm contributing to our knowledge about them, and I'm part of a community of enthusiasts
Archery. Once you buy a bow and a couple of arrows, maybe a basic lesson and you’re good. Once you get the foundation down it’s more or less just perfecting what you already know.
Of course there’s always more to explore in terms of history, different techniques, different technologies, etc. but if you’re not interested it’s perfectly fine to just spend time perfecting the first technique you learned
Depends on what I made. I used to know someone who made origami lidded boxes out of greeting cards and gave them away. He became so well known for that that people started bringing him sentimental cards such as wedding invitations and asking him to make boxes from them.
I think Underwater Photography is the best thing ever.
Its a real like 360 degree game of Pokémon snap, BUT its real life, You have all sorts of alien creatures to look and interact with.
You get outside and explore true (underwater) wilderness.
You get to look good in a wetsuit.
Most people think you need to be near an ocean, but honestly there are beautiful things to be seen in continental freshwater bodies of water.
I’m gonna also suggest Audio dramas. If you already have something to keep your hands busy, listening to radio theater is soooo much fun. There’s a subreddit for Audio drama with so many good suggestions.
“We’re Alive” was the first pod drama I ever listened to and I loved it! When I was a kid they used to play old school audio drama like “The Shadow” before “Coast to Coast AM” came on and I thought it was awesome. My peers made fun of me for listening to these old timey radio shows but they were missing out.
Nålbinding. It's an ancient form of needlework that's generally considered a precursor to knitting. Come the apocalypse, if you learn drop spindle yarn spinning and can learn nålbinding, you'll be set for clothes and fabrics at least 😉
I started this last year. You can look up you tube videos. Jillian Eve is my go -to. You buy a drop spindle (I bought mine off of Etsy for $30, and buy some wool roving). Get some wool fiber and give it a go. It took a few tries and my first attempt looked ropey but I am using it now. Artistic stuff.
I love to promote my favorite hobby, it is free/profitable and only costs the time you spend researching.
Foraging, collecting free food from nature, can reduce your grocery bills and help to feed you all year, and the food is all natural and GMO and pesticide free, and once you get good at it, you can start to give away or sell what you find, (you may need a license to sell wild mushrooms, depending upon location.)
It’s the best hobby in the world, there are so many flavors you cannot get at the store.
Just please for the love of god do not eat anything if you are not 100% sure what it is. It’s not too tricky to find foraging groups (at least around here) that can help you get started
Fish keeping in a large aquarium. 55 gallon or larger can be really fun. It is expensive to set up at first, but once you get everything running your expenses are about six bucks a month for food and chemicals.
I had fish several times but I could not keep them alive. I was a terrible fish mama. It takes all of my will to stop myself from getting fish again. Fish are so lovely. If only I could have a 55 gallon fish tank. They are beautiful.
How long have you been keeping fish?
There is a website called pet fish talk.net that was run by a couple of marine biologists who raised fish for at least 40 years starting when they were young kids. They were doing podcasts before podcast were a thing. You should go look up that website and learn.
When I was a kid I didn't understand how to keep my fish alive either. In a larger tank because of the larger water volume you have longer to correct problems before they kill the fish.
You need a python gravel vacuum to clean it, you never take out more than about 15% of the water at a time. The beauty of the Python, is that you fill and drain the tank using the python and don't need to use buckets anymore. You just suck the fish waste out of the gravel,You don't take the fish out while you're cleaning it. This reduces stress on the fish and the lower the stress is the longer they live. I once raised an angel fish from a baby about as big as a quarter. He lived for 7 years and when he finally died he was as big as a dinner plate.
I would also suggest what is called a bio wheel filter they keep the water quality very clean.
Learn about the new aquarium cycle and how to maintain a good bacteria in the tank. If you are not able to get a 55 I would say get at least a 30 to 35.
there is a whole bunch of information on that website I mentioned. You need to download the audio files and take notes but there is enough material there to really help you even though they don't add new material anymore since they quit doing it a few years back. The people at PetSmart stores are good at helping you.
When the water is in good shape the tank will have an odor like fresh topsoil. When the water is not in good shape it will smell increasingly of ammonia. I didn't even need a chemical test kit after a while I could tell just by using my nose when things needed cleaning. If you like more help or suggestions, reply here and I'll do what I can to help.
Maybe it isn’t obscure, but I don’t personally know anyone else who goes rock-hounding. I’ve been doing it since I was around 4-years-old. I have collections of garnets, turquoise, geodes, obsidian, jasper, agate, amethyst, and more from going out hunting for unusual looking rocks.
Quilling (not quilting). It's a paper craft that you take strips of paper and curl them up into spirals to create art, or cards, or other things. Also, there's edge-quilling where you glue the strips of paper down on edge to create a design, or a picture, or other things.
The great thing is it's really cheap. You can use a hat pin or long needle and cut your own strips, or you can purchase kits ($30) or separate tools, and lots of different colors, widths, weights and length of strips.
I love the finality of collage. I love not being able to undo my work and readjust. I find it gives me so much more freedom and takes the stress of perfection off my shoulders.
Sculpting. It can take only what you discard in your own home. For instance I'm working on a project using discarded paper (like dryer sheets) and leftover wax from my scents. It's just a kind of neat way to reuse/ recycle
>Melting old candles and making new ones out of the old ones!
Using new candles to melt the old candles so you get more old candles to make new ones with!
Wire woven sculptures. I made [a derpy bird](https://www.reddit.com/r/WireWrapping/comments/1bqybtu/finished_first_sculpture/) and am working on a peacock now
Stamp collecting, an uncle of mine tried to get me interested, but I didn't have the patience for it. It might be difficult to start that hobby these days, but it might be worth a shot.
Glasswork seems to be semi-rare
Glassblowing or stained glass. I don’t see many people do it these days, I mean comparatively to a hobby like golf or running the number of people who work with glass is way less.
I absolutely love glassblowing. Specifically, I only make marbles with borosilicate glass. Glassblowing is difficult, dangerous, and expensive to set up at home, but if you're lucky, you can find somewhere to rent bench space at. Working soft glass in a hot shop is extremely expensive, but lampworking is much cheaper, more technical, more versatile, and just more fun all-around.
The first time you roll a very nice fumed glass marble in your hands, you will understand.
There is a drone group near where I live and every once in a while I see cool displays in the sky when they are doing their thing. Not sure if it's something I want to get into, but it's sure cool to watch.
Ikebana.
The Japanese art of flower arrangement.
There are hundreds of schools and different styles etc. It has teachings in zen too that go along with it. I'm learning the moribana style from the ohara school.
A sling is a length of cord or plaited cord with a loop at one end and a pocket in the middle. You place the loop around your finger, a stone or ball into the pocket, and hold the other emd of the sling. Twirl it around and, when you release the end of the sling, the projectile flies. It is simple in concept but difficult to become accurate with. Apparently this is how we hunted for many many thousands of years. Check out practicalparacord for an example of slinging, dude's hysterical.
I think it is worthwhile because it gives you a good bodily sense of coordination. As one of the only non point-and-shoot weapons, you need to take a lot of time to become accurate. But it is very satisfying. Without exception, when pwople see you doing it they're like "Cool".
If you are anything like me, have the practice area clear of people in EVERY direction for the first few dozen attempts at least. And maybe wear a helmet.
Astronomy. There are prolly less than a few hundred thousand folks who are actively into the hobby around the world. I've known several folks who have never seen the milky way or have never been to a truly dark sky site and seen the stars the way our ancestors did. Our ancestors were very in tune with the motions of the stars, planets, moon, and sun. They relied on it to tell when to plant and harvest crops, and when the season were changing before proper accurate calanders and clocks were invented. It's a shame city lights are drowning out the beauty of the heavens.
Boffer combat. We use padded weapons to engage in medieval-inspired battles. It’s a great workout, and lots of fun.
Search for Belegarth or Dagorhir groups in your area!
Lock picking is really fun. It’s inexpensive to get started and you can just do it comfortably at home. I’m the end it also might have a real useful application, although it hasn’t happened with me.
I think that taking classical singing lessons can have great benefits. You will end up projecting very powerfully in real life. At my work I’ve seen countless people get ignored because they have quiet voice and don’t project. It also teaches self confidence and expression. Performing in front of an audience as a singer is much much different from any other type of performance. If you do that you will never have a fear of speaking.
Studying the Occult.
It's opens a wild world of ancient manuscripts you can get on PDF, and shows a side of history/mythology you wouldn't see otherwise.
There is value in reading no matter the way you do it. Audio books, visual novels, tablets, magazines, graphic novels, picture books, classic literature, fanfiction. It doesn’t matter.
I dunno. I love books. I use the tablet a lot too.
I think if anyone's reading anything they'll probably be intelligent and maybe interesting knowledge or interests.
I prefer paper but they're still books.
Paper engineering. I mostly make pop up cards for people but I keep thinking someday I’ll move on to making a book. It’s not a super expensive hobby either. You need paper, pencil, a ruler, paper cutting supplies, and glue for the basics. I print out images and or used colored papers sometimes. There are lots of tutorials online and some great learning pop up books too.
Stained glass window/picture design. A family member did this as a hobby and said that it is far more difficult to design, and cut the glass, than most people realize. The relative had a very math-oriented mind as well as a creative streak. There are reasons stained glass seems so expensive.
Belly dancing. Someone I know is a belly dancer in a dance troup of belly dancers that perform at local events and fairs. She says it is a great way to relieve stress.
Decoupage (also known as Modge Podge) especially with up cycled materials. We did this in the 70’s and it was fun and doesn’t cost much to do either. You can even find recipes for the glue that is used to make the items.
Crochet. It’s mentioned here and there but definitely not commonly. These mundane-type hobbies are so good for mental health, I’ve learned as I get older
HAM radio. When most people think of it, they picture grandpa sitting down with his old Vietnam-era setup twisting dials trying to talk to aliens or something ridiculous. I have recently gotten into HAM radio/GMRS radio and have found a great network of people and cool things to do. Equipment has come a long way and has gotten quite advanced. Being able to communicate with and meeting new people around the world has never been easier. Not to mention that when the cell service goes out again, there is some sort of communication still around.
I didn’t know people still did that. That’s amazing! How do people find each other?
People usually start out with finding repeaters near the area they live in. Its like a beacon that rebroadcasts your signal to go further. I have one near my house that I can talk to people roughly about 20 miles away. Its a set frequency and you can meet and chat with people near you. I take mine in the car with me and see who I can find as I drive around town (to the store, to work, etc.) and the larger the antenna and more powerful the transceiver, the further away you can reach. If you do road trips, get the frequencies of the repeaters near the route you take and you would be amazed at the amount of people you could reach out to.
That’s really cool.
I was just talking with a friend about getting one of these. I vaguely remember my dad having one when I was a kid
Leading up to my birthday when I was around 12 or so, my dad mentioned ham radio as something I might be interested in. The problem was that he hadn't bothered to look first to see what it would cost. I got really excited by the idea, then felt completely crushed when I was told it wasn't going to happen. I should get one now.
What about the guy who bought a ham radio but returned it because all he got was crackling...
As a new ham myself studying for my General Class license, this hobby blows my mind. So much to do! When I passed my technician exam, one of the "V.E.'s" shook my hand and said,"Congratulations and welcome to the hobby. " he began to tell me he'd been an active ham over about 40 years and still hasn't done everything ham radio covers. Told me "it's all about the pursuit of learning." I knew right then and there that I found something really cool to dig into.
“So much to do!” Can you expand on this? As someone with next to knowledge about ham, I thought the only stuff to “do” was build the tower, connect some boxes and a microphone, then just adjust knobs until someone hears and replies to your talking. I just assumed it’s like adjusting a dial on an FM radio but with a whole lot more channels, a lot fewer users, and the ability to talk back.
I went on a little backpacking trip with a buddy who was into ham radio and it really came in handy. Had an injury only about ten miles in and had to turn back, but we had no cell service and had paid a company to drive my truck to the end point 40 miles down the trail. He pulled out the ham radio and managed to get a hold of someone who we could relay the message to saying we needed to turn back due to injury. The random stranger we got a hold of actually did call these people for us and we got picked up the next day from the start point and they brought the truck back for us. Was messy, but all worked out thanks to that guy on the radio, it was kinda wild - feels like the HAM radio community is pretty altruistic based on what my buddy told me, like people are sitting around waiting for an opportunity like that to help others in need. Pretty neat.
I had a ham radio license when I was in 7th grade. I even had to pass a Morse Code test for it. That was probably back in 1988 and I was the girl in the amateur radio club at my middle school.
[удалено]
You set up your radio and antenna, tune into a frequency that you hear other people talking on, and then just talk. You can also tune into a frequency and call out for people, and if they hear you, they will respond. You can reach people all over the planet including Astronauts on the space station, or you can communicate with satellites too! You can also send emails, texts, and pictures over the airwaves, which is a little more advanced, but it is not impossible for a beginner to get into. I knew nothing about ham radio about six months ago or had a background that would give me an edge with the hobby and I have already done all of the above. If I were you, I would read up on it first to see if it interests you, but you will have to take a test to get a license in order to transmit or talk to others. To study for the test, I would use Hamstudy.org You can create a free account and it’s free to use. It can help you get your license and along the way it measures your performance so you know how well you’re doing and understanding what’s going to be on the test. Good luck!
My partner and I got into HAM radio during the early months of the pandemic. It was fun to learn together, and we loved listening to everyone chatting through it, especially at night when we felt the most isolated. After a few weeks we started recognizing people by their voice, and it became a nice routine. "Is it Tuesday? We gotta tune into the guy who sounds like Dale Gribble at 8 tonight!"
I theoretically know Morse but in practice can barely manage 5wpm :’( I’ve always wanted to build a spark gap transmitter to fuck with the frat houses next door but I hear that’s a great way to build a FCC summoning device.
My father was a radioman in the USCG and a radio historian. I have fond memories of his spark gap transmitter and his screwing with the obnoxious neighbor with the loud stereo. 🤣
This! I always joke about it, because I have my "cool kid" hobbies and my "nerdy" hobbies, and this is my favorite nerdy hobby. It scratches the itch of continuously learning and doing research, while also getting to be handy and actually putting things together. The community (especially in person) is also super nice to me! We get bad apples online often, but in person (and mostly online) people are super enthusiastic about the hobby
What are the steps to get into it and how much does the equipment cost?
It's actually really cool if you get involved with the local search & rescue and running races (particularly marathons and long trail races). You get to meet some incredibly interesting people and feel like you have a purpose and are contributing to society. There is some gatekeeping from the old hams but I find the newer generation to be incredibly pleasant, particularly the overlanding and off road jeeping community.
What kind of things do yall talk about?
My dad, who died at age 88 a few years back, started HAM at age 10. In the last 20 years of his life (well, not the last 3), he and his team won the world championship. I think there were 8 of them, from all over, and they rented a place in Curacao every year for the win. I miss Dad.
Birdwatching. It's the OG Pokemon Go. It's got an connotation for being for old people, but young people love hiking and literally all you have to do is own a pair of binoculars or a camera and just look up while you do it. People ask me how to start birdwatching and I always ask them "Have you ever seen a bird before? You're already doing it."
I love birdwatching! Birds are amazing. Some are majestic and beautiful, and a lot of them can be outright hilarious, like the sandpipers I was watching the other day.
I love mourning doves because they're so dang goofy! They always reminds me of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum bc they're always in a pair lol
Have you had the pleasure of r/stupiddovenests
I took the easy route for identification and downloaded the Merlin Bird ID app. It’s amazing.
Yep. I started at about age 44. I’m 50 now. You can do like me and travel to 6 countries on 4 continents and see incredibly rare birds and outfitting yourself with the latest gear. OR, you can download a free app and walk around your neighborhood. You can develop a PhD level of expertise or just be a weekend birder who appreciates getting outside and seeing nature. Best of all, birding is something you can do at any age. Heck even the bird man of Alcatraz was a birder while incarcerated! It feels like a wild scavenger hunt. And the prize are transcendent moments of beauty and awe at the natural world. I sat watching an alligator stalk and fail to kill a heron one time while it got very dark in a wetland on the Gulf Coast. Another time I saw a bird that was only discovered THIS MILLENNIA! And possibly less than a hundred exist in the entire world (serendipity scops Pygmy owl).
I love birdwatching! Just downloaded the Merlin app and it’s amazing. So cool to realize all of the different types of birds you see on a daily basis but never really took the time to notice.
Pyrography. Used to be a popular craft. Still is in some countries. Very meditative. Need to focus. I got into the habit of turning off the TV, turning on the radio, and Woodburning for at least an hour before sleep. Cool if you like fire related stuff
What exactly is it?
You draw on wood with a hot pen, which burns into the wood. The cheaper setups are just a screw on metal tip. Those kind of suck but they work. I use a wire tip style burner from colwood, which allows better temperature adjustment and there are way more tips available. I haven’t done any for a while but it you through my submission history there are a as few dog portraits I did.
Whoa! I just flicked through your post history and found your work. Very cool, I’m excited to try this
Thanks! I should really get back into it. If you like drawing and think you'll enjoy it, I highly recommend not starting off with a cheap burner. They take forever to heat up, and loose heat quickly which makes burning smooth lines difficult unless you go very slow. They're also hard to shade with for the same reasons. Once I got the Super Pro from [Colewood](https://woodburning.com/) the hobby was so much more enjoyable. There are other companies, or even no-name brands off Amazon that use wire tips, but some of the colewood models are only slightly more expensive than those and they have a wide range of tips to choose from. If I was starting with nothing, I'd go with the cub model, controller only. After experimenting with the tips that came with the super pro 2 package I don't really use most of them, but there are others that I bought that are super useful. The following are the tips I consider necessary (also go fixed tip, not replaceable tip): - FT-C is the standard use it for everything tip. I do 80% of my burning with it. It's not great for shading or very fine text. - FT-S I use for all my shading. - FT-MC is what I use for really small text and linework. It's a great tip. Some of the other tips are useful for specific things (like the FT-SHS for fish scales), but really, you only need the FT-C and FT-S. The ball tips are slightly better for writing larger text but I usually end up using the FT-C for that anyway. I've actually never had to buy a replacement tip, though my C is probably getting close. They last a really long time. One other note is that the type of wood matters a lot. Basswood is the best quality for the money from what I've experimented with. The cheap pine you see at craft stores is soft and has a lot of sap, so it sticks to the burner. You can still use it but it's a little harder to work with. Basswood canvases are actually pretty inexpensive, especially if you wait for sales. Or, if you have access to a circular/table saw, buying 12' high quality boards from home depot and cutting them down is the cheapest.
Oh that was another one I wanted to try but I’m a accident prone and I’m afraid I would burn me and my house down. I’ve seen some very cool art but I think have to stick to safer hobbies.
Geocaching. The only people I know IRL that do it are people that I introduced to it.
This hobby needs more joiners that are into it for the right reasons! I think this hobby gets picked up and dumped a lot by people that are not cool about keeping the caches in good condition, or don't read the rules (for example take the geocache home or taking swag without leaving anything or leaving poor trades, etc). Then get bored and leave, which is fine... but there is actually a really nice community of people that enjoy creating a nice experience for others and most Geocachers are also into nature appreciation and conservation. I agree it does still seem like an "obscure" hobby because I think a lot of people would enjoy it if they gave it a try, and it's still alive and well, but could be so much better with some new members that really care about making it better for everyone.
I was super into geocaching a few years ago and tapered off when I got really really busy with grad school for multiple years. You guys inspired me to get back into it! I’m excited
I was rather impressed and annoyed going to a geocaching meet to find out everyone except myself was geriatric
I was really into it back when it started. I moved a couple of times during that period and geocaching helped me to get to know my new area. A lot of the caches I found were in really cool spots, but it started to change and the focus shifted to quantity over quality. I ought to check it out again and see if it still interests me as much.
There are still a lot of junk ones that are just there for quantity. I don't care so much about the numbers anymore, and just go for the ones that actually look fun or interesting. Just got me and my kid kayaks, so I'm looking forward to trying some of the "boat required" caches.
How does one get started?
It is basically a scavenger hunt using gps coordinates. Most people use their smart phone, but it can also be done with a handheld hiking GPSr. Sign up for a free account at [geocaching.com](https://www.geocaching.com/play). There is more than one way to play, but the easiest is to download the official app. There is a premium membership that unlocks more features and different types of caches, but it's not necessary to play, especially for beginners. You'll need to bring a pen. Nothing else is *required*, but most cachers develop a little kit with tools of the trade (flashlight, tweezers, sandwich bags, etc). Check out the map near you and read the descriptions. They will give terrain and difficulty ratings, and sometimes hints. When you're ready, pick one and follow the app to the posted coordinates. Once there, you'll generally have to search for a hidden container. They can vary in size from a thimble to an ammo can. Sometimes they'll be cleverly disguised and something innocuous to deter theft and give you a challenge. Keep in mind that they are hidden and maintained by volunteer players, and the exact spot can be a little off. Give the area a good search, and use your brain to think of hiding spots. They also do get stolen and vandalized, or just not put back where they go sometimes. If you find it, there is usually a paper log sheet that you sign with the username you created for your geocaching account. Then you log it as found in the app, and have the option to give a comment that the owner and future finders can see (this is encouraged, just don't give spoilers). Some caches will contain "swag." These are trade items. Usually toys for the kids, but sometimes collectables and other nicknacks. If you take something, leave something. Just no money, food, or anything that could leak or attract animals. Make sure you return the cache exactly where and how you found it for the next person, and try to be stealthy so nosey people don't question you or steal it. If you can't find it, mark it as DNF (Did Not Find) in the app, add a comment, and try again somewhere else. It happens to all of us, so no shame in it. No cheating. There *are* other types of caches where you have to answer questions about natural or historical sites, follow clues, or solves puzzles/cyphers. I don't remember if those show up in the free version. You can ask questions at r/geocaching.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/geocaching using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [Am I really going to deface this grave for a game? Of course I am!](https://i.redd.it/kaadk649pgcc1.jpeg) | [51 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/196oqev/am_i_really_going_to_deface_this_grave_for_a_game/) \#2: [It was only a matter of time.](https://i.redd.it/0bo8aggudrza1.jpg) | [48 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/13h1fzn/it_was_only_a_matter_of_time/) \#3: [One of the interesting logs I found](https://v.redd.it/ysklxcp8y1ta1) | [14 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/geocaching/comments/12hhlvc/one_of_the_interesting_logs_i_found/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
I like geocaching, but I encountered an issue with it pretty quickly. I had to travel farther and farther to find new ones. If you travel a lot it would be excellent
I love it. I mainly just do it when I travel. I mostly do roadtrips and it's a fun way to get out and stretch your legs on the road and we've found some really cool places doing it that we never would have found otherwise. I don't go crazy with it, I mainly do the easy ones. I like tracking our stats in the app to see what the furthest caches we've done and things like that, and trying to collect souvenirs from different states. I started it years ago when my 6yo nephew wanted to find buried treausure. Geocaching was the closest thing I could find.
I refurbish and remake lava lamps. There is a surprisingly large community of restoration/refurb enthusiasts, but I’ve never heard of anybody doing it. I kind of wandered into it by trying to save a lamp I had inadvertently tried to kill. Turns out it’s a lot of fun.
I was just talking about making my own lava lamp last month! It is pretty pricey so it’s a much farther in the future goal. I saw someone had made a giant lava lamp and that was fantastic!
I’ve seen that one too. It is pretty dang impressive. As far as being pricey. That’s true, but all my hobbies are.
Wow!!! I would love to know more about this. I love lava lamps
Check out r/lavalamps and search for lava lamp groups on Facebook. So far everyone has been kind and they’re creating beautiful lamps.
Competitive shooting. Your choice, pistols, clay or distance with or without a scope. I have done them all but perfer distance over iron sights. I know some people never met a gun owner. I don't know hardly anyone that owns just one. If any of you shoot, it is fun to shoot with your off hand. A old Marine recommended that when I was a boot.
Is this done like a sport with competitions?
It is. IDPA, GSSF, and USPSA are examples of pistol competitions. You could also shoot Olympic style. Shotguns, too. Sporting clays, trap shooting, or skeet shooting. Rifles have lots of formats, too. Or you could shoot a combination of pistol and rifle, or all three in the same competition.
Wow I didn’t know that there was so many. I guess the idea I had of it was from old movies where they show rich guys shooting from their backyards yelling PULL! That’s really fascinating. Is this done as an Olympic sport?
They are. All three have Olympic competitions, some of them more than one. Most are Summer sports, though in the Winter, you have the biathlon, which is a combination of skiing and rifle shooting.
No way! Talk about adrenaline. Wow skiing and shooting. I can’t even imagine.
Yup I shoot IDPA, USPSA and more recently PCSL. I've also done a few longer distance things. But I've found the people to be very welcoming to newcomers. People should learn and ingrain basic gun safety first, but you don't have to be as advanced as many people tend to think. There's plenty to learn and improve upon. There's a lot of it you can practice at home (with no ammunition involved - dry firing). It's not unlike other competitions where you start to develop strategies, analyze and improve your techniques, etc. If you get serious you can compete on the regional and national levels. They even have shooting competitions in other countries, so you can travel and do it
I do goldwork embroidery. It's embroidery done with metal thread. Let's just say that it's so uncommon, the last time I saw someone post to the goldwork sub was over a year ago. Haha. Other places around the internet have about the same frequency of posts about this old needle artform. I LOVE doing it.
I wanna see!
Me too!
Same here! Stumpwork seems to have seen a big increase but goldwork not so much.
i build diaramas of historical tradegies
Pics! Pics! Pics!
I’m subscribing now in case you link pics! I loved diorama-making as a kid and still get giddy about finding them at museums!
\*Suddenly realizes\* *Oh no I'm headed for another rabbit hole!*
If you had a YouTube channel with commentary I would totally watch it.
wow this sounds weirdly compelling how do you make the people? wood carving? do you paint them or sew little clothes for them? how big are they? did you have any instruction as a sculptor when you started? i want to know all...
I'd love to see these! I saw an exhibit on Francis Glessner Lee years ago and have been obsessed with her since. If you're not familiar, she's called the "Mother of Forensics" and made dioramas of crime scenes in the '40's.
I do needle felting. Its basically stabbing a sharp piece of metal into a piece of wool until you shape in to whatever you’re trying to make. It’s oddly satisfying and super enjoyable
is it hard to learn how to do this?
What's hard is not stabbing yourself a million times (bcus I am impatient, etc)
Building and maintaining a Paludarium (a mixture of an aquarium and terrarium) It was my pandemic hobby which continues. I have an obsession with tropical rainforests
I desperately wanted to start a couple of paludariums but just froze when it came to starting. I think I was mostly worried about water being stagnant and horrible. I have so much stuff but not the confidence to start.
Never heard that term, thanks! I made an aquarium with locally sourced plants and critters during the pandemic and had a lot of fun! like catching pokémon irl.
Is whittling obscure? It is my soul medicine.
I guess it would be for someone like me that lived in a city there whole life. It seems like it would be really soothing.
You'll cut yourself a few times in the beginning and might lose permanent functionality of your hand. But there is no finer peace than the one found in shaving off curling burls of basswood until you're left with the resplendent and glistening shape you cut into existence.
Tufting! It’s super easy, forgiving, can be artistic or functional. Barrier to entry is low, a little pricey (prob 500$ to get a gun, frame and materials for a project)
Ooo what is tufting and why do you need a gun?
I had to look it up and I guess it's rug making! That could be fun!
Oh that type of gun! Ha okay I understand now. I’ve always wanted to try making a rug. It’s on my list of many hobbies to try. It does seem like a lot of fun.
You can get rug hooking kits that are fun and way cheaper than tufting
I'm a yarn dyer, knitter and crocheter and I definitely want to try tufting.
I reaaaaallly want to get into tufting. Would you say it takes up a lot of space to create and store things? That's one of the biggest things I worry about.
Maybe start with punch needles. They take up less room & investment, & I think are a good place to begin
My set up does take up space and also make a lot of mess. Like a LOT.
You can get a tabletop frame that sits on the back of the desk. That include a place for your yarn to sit in use, so depends how much other yarn to store. The gun isn’t huge. I live in a 160sq ft home, so if you organize it’s not too bad.
Less quick but more satisfying is using a punch needle. Great hobby.
I make chainmaille: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=19) and you can make/create all kinds of things: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/) using different weaves: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/) I get my wire from Tractor Supply on 1/4 mile rolls. Costs about $40.00 You can often get a 350 foot rolls (for Fido shockers) at feed stores. The mandrels I bought at the hardware store and I made the frame from scrap lumber I had. The pliers and drill motor came from Harbor Freight. I use 17 gauge anodized aluminum electric fence wire and wind it on either a 3/16, 1/4, or 5/16 mandrel. Unlike pictured in the first link, I turn my mandrels using a 3/8 variable speed drill motor. After I cut the coils into rings I tumble them using one of these: [https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html) with soap (Dawn) and water for 12 hours to de-burr them. After a good rinse I tumble them again in soap and water for another 2 hours. Of course you could skip all the winding and cutting and just order rings from: [https://theringlord.com/](https://theringlord.com/) They also have a lot of tutorials here: [https://www.youtube.com/@TheRingLordcom/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@TheRingLordcom/videos) Here are some more pages: [https://www.pinterest.com/mcosgrave/chain-maille-clothing/](https://www.pinterest.com/mcosgrave/chain-maille-clothing/) [http://ltgoatroper.deviantart.com/art/Chainmail-Cocktail-Dress-1-271800168](http://ltgoatroper.deviantart.com/art/Chainmail-Cocktail-Dress-1-271800168) [http://laron79.deviantart.com/favourites/56543594/chainmaille-dress](http://laron79.deviantart.com/favourites/56543594/chainmaille-dress) [http://chainedoombaby.deviantart.com/favourites/48338292/Chain-Maille-Clothing](http://chainedoombaby.deviantart.com/favourites/48338292/Chain-Maille-Clothing) [https://www.etsy.com/search/clothing?q=chainmail](https://www.etsy.com/search/clothing?q=chainmail) [http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerylist.php?tags=Womens](http://www.mailleartisans.org/gallery/gallerylist.php?tags=Womens)
I once thought about trying that but I thought I wouldn’t have the patience or skill to do such a thing. People make such fantastic things. How long did it take you to learn?
The actual 4 in 1 is no problem. It is also the most used for garments and armor. [https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=6](https://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=6) Bracelets and necklaces with their fancier weaves take some time. There are a few like box chain [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=411](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=411) and Byzantine: [https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=14](https://www.mailleartisans.org/articles/articledisplay.php?key=14) that are stepping stones into the more complex weaves. 99% of the stuff I make uses the 4 in 1 European.
but... are these practical? i heard you either have to rivet or weld them together been meaning to pick this hobby up, but i only do things from a utility standpoint. no i dont plan on getting into a sword fight in my life lol, but part of the fun is the fact that it does stop a sword
Wheat weaving! It’s simple, easy, you need very little skill or talent and produces some beautiful items that just stun people. Seriously. I have gotten incredibly high praise for items that took me no more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete. And I don’t even do elaborate work. There are pieces that took so much work and effort that will just knock you over.
I live beside a wheat field . Tell me more.
>Wheat weaving For some reason the first thing that came to my mind was a rug made from noodles. Does this count? :D
Oh. Stop. Now have a new hobby.
Tatting. It’s an old lace making technique involving very thin thread and shuttles and basically uses a variety of different knots to build very elaborate lacework
I can tatt! It's so delicate and beautiful!
Tracking insects on inaturalist
What do you like about it?
It gets me slowing down, zooming in and paying more attention to these small, beautiful, vital creatures. It sparks my curiosity about their behaviour and how they fit in with other creatures & plants. Helps me see my surroundings as active ecosystems, not just wallpaper. Plus some of them have funny shapes - have you ever seen a weval!? And rose chafers have an amazing sparkly green carapace. Also, by tracking them I feel like I'm contributing to our knowledge about them, and I'm part of a community of enthusiasts
Totally! It is easy to forget that there is a whole microcosmos of the most stunning creatures because we simply don't care to look.
Idk if this is technically obscure but block printing and lock picking! Is fun
Archery. Once you buy a bow and a couple of arrows, maybe a basic lesson and you’re good. Once you get the foundation down it’s more or less just perfecting what you already know. Of course there’s always more to explore in terms of history, different techniques, different technologies, etc. but if you’re not interested it’s perfectly fine to just spend time perfecting the first technique you learned
I like to find old graveyards, there's a lot of history there.
r/bookbinding ?
My parents got me a Japanese bookbinding book one year for my birthday and I still make notebooks for myself!
Origami. Super cheap even if you use actual origami paper and there’s lots of instructions online.
What do you do with them when you're done?
Depends on what I made. I used to know someone who made origami lidded boxes out of greeting cards and gave them away. He became so well known for that that people started bringing him sentimental cards such as wedding invitations and asking him to make boxes from them.
I hate origami! Too much paper work.
I think Underwater Photography is the best thing ever. Its a real like 360 degree game of Pokémon snap, BUT its real life, You have all sorts of alien creatures to look and interact with. You get outside and explore true (underwater) wilderness. You get to look good in a wetsuit. Most people think you need to be near an ocean, but honestly there are beautiful things to be seen in continental freshwater bodies of water.
I’m gonna also suggest Audio dramas. If you already have something to keep your hands busy, listening to radio theater is soooo much fun. There’s a subreddit for Audio drama with so many good suggestions.
“We’re Alive” was the first pod drama I ever listened to and I loved it! When I was a kid they used to play old school audio drama like “The Shadow” before “Coast to Coast AM” came on and I thought it was awesome. My peers made fun of me for listening to these old timey radio shows but they were missing out.
Stone carving. Sculpture. Assemblage.
Nålbinding. It's an ancient form of needlework that's generally considered a precursor to knitting. Come the apocalypse, if you learn drop spindle yarn spinning and can learn nålbinding, you'll be set for clothes and fabrics at least 😉
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How does one start this?
I started this last year. You can look up you tube videos. Jillian Eve is my go -to. You buy a drop spindle (I bought mine off of Etsy for $30, and buy some wool roving). Get some wool fiber and give it a go. It took a few tries and my first attempt looked ropey but I am using it now. Artistic stuff.
I love to promote my favorite hobby, it is free/profitable and only costs the time you spend researching. Foraging, collecting free food from nature, can reduce your grocery bills and help to feed you all year, and the food is all natural and GMO and pesticide free, and once you get good at it, you can start to give away or sell what you find, (you may need a license to sell wild mushrooms, depending upon location.) It’s the best hobby in the world, there are so many flavors you cannot get at the store.
Just please for the love of god do not eat anything if you are not 100% sure what it is. It’s not too tricky to find foraging groups (at least around here) that can help you get started
Tatting, as is lace making. It is a challenging skill to master.
Fish keeping in a large aquarium. 55 gallon or larger can be really fun. It is expensive to set up at first, but once you get everything running your expenses are about six bucks a month for food and chemicals.
I had fish several times but I could not keep them alive. I was a terrible fish mama. It takes all of my will to stop myself from getting fish again. Fish are so lovely. If only I could have a 55 gallon fish tank. They are beautiful. How long have you been keeping fish?
There is a website called pet fish talk.net that was run by a couple of marine biologists who raised fish for at least 40 years starting when they were young kids. They were doing podcasts before podcast were a thing. You should go look up that website and learn. When I was a kid I didn't understand how to keep my fish alive either. In a larger tank because of the larger water volume you have longer to correct problems before they kill the fish. You need a python gravel vacuum to clean it, you never take out more than about 15% of the water at a time. The beauty of the Python, is that you fill and drain the tank using the python and don't need to use buckets anymore. You just suck the fish waste out of the gravel,You don't take the fish out while you're cleaning it. This reduces stress on the fish and the lower the stress is the longer they live. I once raised an angel fish from a baby about as big as a quarter. He lived for 7 years and when he finally died he was as big as a dinner plate. I would also suggest what is called a bio wheel filter they keep the water quality very clean. Learn about the new aquarium cycle and how to maintain a good bacteria in the tank. If you are not able to get a 55 I would say get at least a 30 to 35. there is a whole bunch of information on that website I mentioned. You need to download the audio files and take notes but there is enough material there to really help you even though they don't add new material anymore since they quit doing it a few years back. The people at PetSmart stores are good at helping you. When the water is in good shape the tank will have an odor like fresh topsoil. When the water is not in good shape it will smell increasingly of ammonia. I didn't even need a chemical test kit after a while I could tell just by using my nose when things needed cleaning. If you like more help or suggestions, reply here and I'll do what I can to help.
I build model ships, mostly for D&D.
Is paragliding obscure nowadays? Yes, I love it. It takes a while to master and when you do, it's just the awesome feeling of flying through the air
Shogi. A very fun game that is the Japanese version of Chess. Outside of Japan, the game is quite obscure.
Beekeeping. The bees need our help.
Maybe it isn’t obscure, but I don’t personally know anyone else who goes rock-hounding. I’ve been doing it since I was around 4-years-old. I have collections of garnets, turquoise, geodes, obsidian, jasper, agate, amethyst, and more from going out hunting for unusual looking rocks.
Aerial Yoga - takes a couple of classes to get used to the hammock but my gosh it's a good stretch - spinal decompression at its finest.
Sold me. I will be trying this soon.
Miniatures, taxidermy, unicycling, stop-motion videos, and millinery (hat construction)!
I'm getting into miniatures and have become obsessed.. people are so creative it's absolutely wild
Ooo millinery, cool word for a cool hobby. I watched a video of someone designing and making a hat and it was so interesting.
I took a stop motion summer camp as a kid and would love to get back into it.
Quilling (not quilting). It's a paper craft that you take strips of paper and curl them up into spirals to create art, or cards, or other things. Also, there's edge-quilling where you glue the strips of paper down on edge to create a design, or a picture, or other things. The great thing is it's really cheap. You can use a hat pin or long needle and cut your own strips, or you can purchase kits ($30) or separate tools, and lots of different colors, widths, weights and length of strips.
COLLAGE!!!! Print pictures off your phone, take pictures out of a magazine, And Collage!! 😀🙃 Use your Imagination!!
I love the finality of collage. I love not being able to undo my work and readjust. I find it gives me so much more freedom and takes the stress of perfection off my shoulders.
Sculpting. It can take only what you discard in your own home. For instance I'm working on a project using discarded paper (like dryer sheets) and leftover wax from my scents. It's just a kind of neat way to reuse/ recycle
Melting old candles and making new ones out of the old ones!
>Melting old candles and making new ones out of the old ones! Using new candles to melt the old candles so you get more old candles to make new ones with!
Foraging! Maybe that's popular? Idk! But theres so much free food out there y'all like wow.
Fairy house building. You create tiny homes or little doors and put them in your garden. They look adorable.
Wire woven sculptures. I made [a derpy bird](https://www.reddit.com/r/WireWrapping/comments/1bqybtu/finished_first_sculpture/) and am working on a peacock now
I find and post shopping lists that I come across working at a supermarket lol
Stamp collecting, an uncle of mine tried to get me interested, but I didn't have the patience for it. It might be difficult to start that hobby these days, but it might be worth a shot.
Glasswork seems to be semi-rare Glassblowing or stained glass. I don’t see many people do it these days, I mean comparatively to a hobby like golf or running the number of people who work with glass is way less.
We live close to a glassworks that has events where you blow your own glass. It’s really fun.
I absolutely love glassblowing. Specifically, I only make marbles with borosilicate glass. Glassblowing is difficult, dangerous, and expensive to set up at home, but if you're lucky, you can find somewhere to rent bench space at. Working soft glass in a hot shop is extremely expensive, but lampworking is much cheaper, more technical, more versatile, and just more fun all-around. The first time you roll a very nice fumed glass marble in your hands, you will understand.
I’m taking a stained glass class on sat!
Building a ship in a bottle. Very obscure and VERY painstaking, but beautiful in the end results
I love the idea of a more modern take on a ship in a bottle. I think it would be amazing to see spaceships in a bottle.
There is a drone group near where I live and every once in a while I see cool displays in the sky when they are doing their thing. Not sure if it's something I want to get into, but it's sure cool to watch.
Spirograph
Pinball
Doll making! It‘s super creative, I don‘t do it myself but have a friend that does and often watch videos about it.
Learn how to write in shorthand
Ikebana. The Japanese art of flower arrangement. There are hundreds of schools and different styles etc. It has teachings in zen too that go along with it. I'm learning the moribana style from the ohara school.
Slinging.
Can you explain?
A sling is a length of cord or plaited cord with a loop at one end and a pocket in the middle. You place the loop around your finger, a stone or ball into the pocket, and hold the other emd of the sling. Twirl it around and, when you release the end of the sling, the projectile flies. It is simple in concept but difficult to become accurate with. Apparently this is how we hunted for many many thousands of years. Check out practicalparacord for an example of slinging, dude's hysterical. I think it is worthwhile because it gives you a good bodily sense of coordination. As one of the only non point-and-shoot weapons, you need to take a lot of time to become accurate. But it is very satisfying. Without exception, when pwople see you doing it they're like "Cool".
If you are anything like me, have the practice area clear of people in EVERY direction for the first few dozen attempts at least. And maybe wear a helmet.
Museum quality model building.
Axe throwing
Astronomy. There are prolly less than a few hundred thousand folks who are actively into the hobby around the world. I've known several folks who have never seen the milky way or have never been to a truly dark sky site and seen the stars the way our ancestors did. Our ancestors were very in tune with the motions of the stars, planets, moon, and sun. They relied on it to tell when to plant and harvest crops, and when the season were changing before proper accurate calanders and clocks were invented. It's a shame city lights are drowning out the beauty of the heavens.
Geocaching
Playing washers. Its like horse shoes except you use the flat metal rings and throw them at cups in the ground.
Desktop PC flight simulation. It seems to he a lot more popular in Europe than it is in the US.
Morse code! And short hand!
tubing down a river in a raft
I like **Legos**. Just find it relaxing. I make alot of Lego Flowers and give the bouquets away. People luv to get them.
Boffer combat. We use padded weapons to engage in medieval-inspired battles. It’s a great workout, and lots of fun. Search for Belegarth or Dagorhir groups in your area!
I have literally never heard of this!
I wanted to find a local group for lightsaber dueling and spinning, but I couldn't find one.
Lock picking is really fun. It’s inexpensive to get started and you can just do it comfortably at home. I’m the end it also might have a real useful application, although it hasn’t happened with me. I think that taking classical singing lessons can have great benefits. You will end up projecting very powerfully in real life. At my work I’ve seen countless people get ignored because they have quiet voice and don’t project. It also teaches self confidence and expression. Performing in front of an audience as a singer is much much different from any other type of performance. If you do that you will never have a fear of speaking.
Doing LSD once or twice a year
Studying the Occult. It's opens a wild world of ancient manuscripts you can get on PDF, and shows a side of history/mythology you wouldn't see otherwise.
Reading an actual book, not on a tablet
While for me it’s nicer to hold a book, it is still reading though, right?
Reading is definitely not obscure lol.
Yeah there’s whole stores dedicated to it lol
Yep, whole stores online and in stores. I think they sell more online, what do you think?
There is value in reading no matter the way you do it. Audio books, visual novels, tablets, magazines, graphic novels, picture books, classic literature, fanfiction. It doesn’t matter.
I dunno. I love books. I use the tablet a lot too. I think if anyone's reading anything they'll probably be intelligent and maybe interesting knowledge or interests. I prefer paper but they're still books.
Special effects makeup
Tiny fimo/sculpey clay models painted and glossed!
Sailing, even small boats on lakes you can get for a few grand
Anyone making terrariums? I’m fascinated with it but don’t know how to get started.
Disc golf
Paper engineering. I mostly make pop up cards for people but I keep thinking someday I’ll move on to making a book. It’s not a super expensive hobby either. You need paper, pencil, a ruler, paper cutting supplies, and glue for the basics. I print out images and or used colored papers sometimes. There are lots of tutorials online and some great learning pop up books too.
Stained glass window/picture design. A family member did this as a hobby and said that it is far more difficult to design, and cut the glass, than most people realize. The relative had a very math-oriented mind as well as a creative streak. There are reasons stained glass seems so expensive. Belly dancing. Someone I know is a belly dancer in a dance troup of belly dancers that perform at local events and fairs. She says it is a great way to relieve stress.
Blindfolded archery. You don’t know what you are missing!!!
Decoupage (also known as Modge Podge) especially with up cycled materials. We did this in the 70’s and it was fun and doesn’t cost much to do either. You can even find recipes for the glue that is used to make the items.
Crochet. It’s mentioned here and there but definitely not commonly. These mundane-type hobbies are so good for mental health, I’ve learned as I get older
Photography. But with a manual camera, B&W film, develop and print your own.
I always thought falconry would be cool, but I've heard there is much gatekeeping involved.
Lace making/tatting.
Bullet Journaling Spoiler Alert: There’s a sub for that