Useless hobbies?

[Idaho45guy]

My main hobby is shooting, followed by reloading, then casting. I also fish, hunt, hike, and explore the woods. And home improvement I guess is a hobby.

I was thinking about how I spend my spare time and money, and if it was worth it. I think all of my hobbies have value to some degree in regards to self-defense, exercise, or material gain.

I just cut out about four paragraphs about me ranting about my young co-workers who have no hobbies other than video games and watching TV. Sad.

But, the point of the thread is about what hobbies you have that you consider useless. What hobbies do you pursue that have no tangible value other than they bring you pleasure?

[Gator 45/70]

Try to do a little deer hunting, When its all said and done I figure the meat costs me about $125.00 a pound.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

My useless hobbie is gardening. It gives me a lot of satisfaction especially when rare birds visit!

https://i.imgur.com/RuzCbLyl.jpg

[rancher1913]

does ranching count, might as well as its a money pit.

[Thundarstick]

O my! What a can of worms you've opened there! I've had so many hobbies in my life time is almost ridiculous! RC Airplane building and flying probably coast the most, but II've acquired great skills from many of them. Jewelry making, fly tying, exotic cooking, Bla Bla Bla, etc etc! My wife says I've got a new hobbie every winter. This year it looks like I'm going to be sausage making during cold weather! The ones that have been consists my adult life is gardening. I love to see things grow and help others have food on the table, and of course shooting! No telling what I could do with the hours and hours I spent on a bicycle or motorcycle! Reading back through this, I wonder how I've had time to work! :lol:

[Idaho45guy]

My useless hobbie is gardening. It gives me a lot of satisfaction especially when rare birds visit!

https://i.imgur.com/RuzCbLyl.jpg

Great photo! I think gardening is one of the least, least useless hobbies there is. A couple of generations ago, gardening was essential to survival for blue collar families.

[Shawlerbrook]

I guess since I find pleasure something of value, none of my hobbies are useless.

[FISH4BUGS]

So let's see.....gardening (35x35 garden - we grow most of our own veggies organically), yard work, casting and reloading, volunteering on our Planning Board and BOD for our sportsman's club.
I murdered (literally) my TV 25 years ago. Don't have TV and won't ever again.
Useless hobbies? Last night I made butternut squash and burgers. Gardening feeds us.
The need to give yourself satisfaction for a job well done is important to me.
I am sure there is some deep seated psychological stuff in there somewhere but who cares?
Works for me.

[sharps4590]

I collected hobbies for.....40 years. My wife used to say she always wondered what I was going to try next. Useless hobbies? Well, as far as monetary gain I suspect most have been fairly useless. For knowledge accumulated, (often useless except in trivia pursuit games), they've been priceless. If pleasure, fun and satisfaction have any value then they've all been much more than useless. They include sailing, (that ain't cheap with a nice boat), downhill and cross country skiing, skijouring, (two high bred dogs was enough so the dog sled never materialized), snowmobiling and snowshoeing, canoeing, white water kayaking, camping, mountain biking, bowhunting, hobby machine work, boating and water skiing and no doubt others. The only one of those I still participate in is XC skiing. I still hunt, shoot, load and pursue old rifles in old cartridges. Fly fishing with vintage bamboo rods and restoring vintage bamboo rods, fly tying and, no doubt the second most expensive and tied for first for the most fun, pleasure and satisfaction, collecting, working on and driving vintage sports cars.

Gardening isn't so much a hobby as a way of life since I was a little boy as is reading.

Edit: Reading through the interesting replies I noticed one mentioned playing the fiddle. Well, how on earth I forgot the hobby, if such it can be called, that I've participated in since I was 10, I don't know but, I did. For my 10th birthday with money received, about $8.00 as I remember in 1963, I bought my first guitar from a gentleman Dad worked with for the princely sum of $5.00. It was a Harmony F-hole, arch top his sister bought from Aldens mail order catalog. That was over 58 years ago and I never stopped playing. I can honestly say, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that is one hobby that had a decent monetary return over a 20 year period I either played in dance bands or had my own dance band. These days I play for senior housing facilities for my fun and, according to the residents, their pleasure. I must not be too bad as all the facilities here and in the surrounding area keep asking me back. But, maybe it's the price...free....lol!!

[dale2242]

High power model rockets.
Expensive but a real hoot.
I did it for about 10 years.

[Sasquatch-1]

Is any hobby useless if you enjoy it?

Now if you want to talk hobbies picked up and quickly dropped, I have a few. I have quickly dabbled in leather working, made a couple of powder horns and scrimshawed them(barely acceptable scrimshaw), tried electroplating for cast and probably several others I have forgotten.

I also get on collecting kicks. I have several cheap vintage postal scales and seven or eight vintage sewing machines, along with a couple of nice clocks.

Now for hobbies I continue to do, there are the shooting aspects and I do stain glass projects every so often. I can sew if need be and use to do a lot of cooking

[Slugster]

Hobbies hobbies we don't need no steenkin' hobbies. I would say that all of my hobbies have lead to much satisfaction and frustration...but they have kept me occupied in useful persuits of learning. Fishing, hunting, kayaking, casting, reloading, shooting, gardening. Now if you are going to count the financial cost, it's looking...not so good. BUT I have learned many valueable skill sets over the years, and I and my family could survive if calamity should befall us.
The priceless aspect of my hobbies has been learning with, and passing on the knowledge of many different subjects with my sons. I cannot put a cost on that.

What I can say is that the time I used to waste in front of the television could have been put to much better use. That wasted time is gone and I cannot get it back.

[kbstenberg]

Hobbies I have never done and never will. GOLF, Tennis, Basket ball, Baseball, Football (American), Hockey, Car racing, Walking through a Mall

[Harter66]

I'm 55 raising 2 teenage girls , tending to a high anxiety , migraine plagued Ms , and keeping my 78 yr old Mom's homestead together along side mine 22 miles away along with holding down a floating shift job .

I dream about getting that first hunk of meat smoked just so .......as of yet it has been elusive . I haven't ruined anything yet but there's definitely something in the mechanics that I just don't get .......... $500 4-way grill may or may not help ...... All I want is that slow cooked through wood flavor thing I stumbled over and recreate that accident every time .

I'm practicing some wood milling and getting decent results I guess . Wood shop was not one of the things I did well . I don't know if it's some weird perfection thing if I just really can't tell where finished is done enough .......
Currently I am working on a base for the big Christmas village tree stand train set .
Maybe if I get good at form and shape I'll saw those 10+ yr old 6'×30' black walnut logs down to something useful like that rifle stock that has haunted my dreams for 25 years .
At least if I screw up the immediately plentiful oak , pine , pecan , cherry , cedar etc I have wood to make charcoal , dog bed stuffing , smoke scrap , and firewood .

I have this fantasy about getting a childhood truck and my highschool car back on the road for a bucket list trip as things stand that's more D&D fantasy than anything that will ever happen ......

In spirit all have some value . In practice they are not wholly unpleasant . Aside from the immediate of the above useless is a good description .

[myg30]

I’ve been into the ham radio hobby since I was 13yrs old. Can’t put a dollar value on it because the skills and education from it were tremendous as a teenager starting with social skills.
Looking back 50 years I can now say that hobby is priceless.

Mike

[Biggin]

Sold the TV years ago, quit drinking I don't know if that counts but has saved me a ton of money not to mention my health. I could care less for any of thr mainstream so-called sports. Most of what I do these days has some practical applications. Do my own leather work weld woodworking etc. As an old hillbilly it's basically just living. We rarely ever hired someone else to do things that we could do ourselves.

[Isaac]

Although I've slowed a bit, I spent many years accumulating old tool/tackle boxes from yard sales and flea markets. Some I've tried to restore others I just clean up. Many of them are used for storing reloading accessories and gun parts. I have a hard time walking away from an old metal Union tool box or a multi-drawer Plano tackle box. I also went on a spree of picking up Akro-Mils storage racks. Anything I believed I could use in the reloading or work shop I snatched up.

Recently I've discovered auto bone yards for useful hobby stuff . I scrounge for anything that may be used to make a shop project. I made my wet tumbler using a serpentine belt, flat steel and an automotive bracket; I've found small amounts of lead in old plumbing trucks along with PVC pipe and brackets. The metal brackets that mount the shelving units inside of the work vans can be used for a variety of projects. I've never spent more than $5 at any one time for brackets and other potentially useful junk. When I take the treasures to the office the employees typically ask if all I have is brackets and braces. Then they say something like, "gimme $5 and we'll call it even". Ever price a piece of 2"x36"x 1/8" flat steel at the local hardware store? I make it a point to take a walk though the bone yard about once every few months. It also give me ideas about new projects. I'm trying to come up with something useful using belt pulleys. I've recently located a couple decent ones. :smile:

Isaac

[JimB..]

Couple types of art including photography and woodturning. Maybe I could sell some, but it’s the making that I enjoy. The lack of film in the camera, or tossing a finished piece in the fire do not diminish the joy of the making.

[ShooterAZ]

There's no such thing as a useless hobby IMHO. If someone gets enjoyment out of whatever they choose as a hobby, then it's all good. That is, as long as their hobby isn't mugging old ladies.

[cwtebay]

Some hobbies may produce a useable result (i.e. gardening), but by the very definition they are meant to be "useless".

My hobbies are shooting, reloading, historical research, and anything outside with my family.



noun: hobby; plural noun: hobbies

an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.
"her hobbies are reading and gardening"





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[Thumbcocker]

I guess since I find pleasure something of value, none of my hobbies are useless.

This

[GhostHawk]

Agree with Shawlerbrook that if it gives you pleasure it is not worthless.

Agree with kbstenberg, those are not hobbies, those are sports, and I could care less about any of them.

Taken in a "hours of the day used in pursuit of" vein, my reading does nothing for anyone but me.
It can be the perfect escape, the ultimate drug, the search for truth, experiences, or the meaning of life. Or it can be sheer pleasure. Not worthless.

But then I'm retired and have a lot of hours to fill.

[bedbugbilly]

I love the reloading and casting, but as I get older, I'm not shooting as much so am rethinking just what I want to "keep" and what needs to go.

I don't know if it qualifies as a "useless" hobby or not . . . but my other hobbies is playing the fiddle.. Always loved fiddle music but it wasn[t until after a major heartsick at 43 and by-pass surgery that I pursued it. Took some lessons from another fiddler and neither he nor I can really read music - I play by ear. My greatest "advancement" in the fiddle playing is when I attended a week long workshop on old time music at the Elkins and Cavis College Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia. I learned to play in cross tune (GDGD) and have never gone back to standard tuning (GDAE). While I was there, I got to know Melvin Wine - a well known and famous W.V. old time fiddler. He was kind enough to sit down with me and help me out with some issues I was having and he taught me two valuable lessons. First, I was having trouble with my little finger on my left hand as far as getting it to respond to the fingering needed on the strings - due to some nerve damage I suffered as a result of he by-pass surgery. His advice? "Forget about you little finger and make them three finger tunes and what you can't dot with your left hand, make up for it with your bowing." His second piece of advice? "Forget about what other folks think of your playing . . . too many people try to imitate others . . . just play and have fun 'cause if you are not having fun, why do it?". I'll also add that Melvin could not read nor write much beyond signing his name, yet he was a Methodist "Lay Minister" and he could quote the Bible frontwards and backwards, I kept in touch with him and passed away several years later . . . one of those men who really was an influence on me.

One of my favorite fiddles is an old Hopf (boxier tha a Stad). It dates back to around 1830 to 1840 - a copy of a true Hopf. I enjoy playing old Stephen Foster tunes, Civil War tunes etc. and often sit out in the garage here in AZ and play . . . if someone walks by and likes it . . . that's great if it brings them some enjoyment too . . . but I play it for myself . . . a great way to relax.

[dverna]

What makes me laugh are people who think their hobbies are essential to survive. A couple we know garden and raise livestock. The lady got angry when I called it a hobby. She had posted something about canning a dozen jars of tomato from the garden. I commented I buy it for $1/jar on sale and was too lazy and cheap to do that much work so she must really enjoy her hobby.

Well, I got an earful. Her reply, "We need to garden to survive. We can't all buy stuff like you do!". Now that is BS. We hit the sales and buy almost everything in bulk. We save a lot of money living that way. If I had to survive, I would get a low skill job for $15+/hr (every business here is begging for workers). After all, how much can two old people eat?

This same couple raises chickens and it costs them about $4/lb (I buy chicken on sale for $.40-1.20/lb). Their last pig cost over $4/lb and I buy pork loin for $1.40-1.80/lb and pork butt for $.80-1.40/lb. They have their livestock killed, cleaned, and butchered for them adding to the cost.

My most expensive (useless?) hobbies have been RV'ing and competitive Trap shooting.

[lightman]

I guess my most expensive and useless hobby was learning to fly and buying an airplane. Next up was Scuba Diving. I also used to build things out of metal. Several tractor implements, trash can holders, a couple of trailers, Deer Stands, a Crawfish cooker, ect. Other hobbies are hunting for Indian Artifacts and collecting cartridges. I'm blessed to be in an area where artifacts are common and I have dozens of places where I have permission to hunt. The flying, diving and building things are in the past.

[lightman]

Sold the TV years ago, quit drinking I don't know if that counts but has saved me a ton of money not to mention my health. I could care less for any of thr mainstream so-called sports. Most of what I do these days has some practical applications. Do my own leather work weld woodworking etc. As an old hillbilly it's basically just living. We rarely ever hired someone else to do things that we could do ourselves.

Hey Buddy, good to see you posting again! I picked up another bucket of weights, you better get busy!!! :drinks:

[Thundarstick]

What makes me laugh are people who think their hobbies are essential to survive. A couple we know garden and raise livestock. The lady got angry when I called it a hobby. She had posted something about canning a dozen jars of tomato from the garden. I commented I buy it for $1/jar on sale and was too lazy and cheap to do that much work so she must really enjoy her hobby.

Well, I got an earful. Her reply, "We need to garden to survive. We can't all buy stuff like you do!". Now that is BS. We hit the sales and buy almost everything in bulk. We save a lot of money living that way. If I had to survive, I would get a low skill job for $15+/hr (every business here is begging for workers). After all, how much can two old people eat?

This same couple raises chickens and it costs them about $4/lb (I buy chicken on sale for $.40-1.20/lb). Their last pig cost over $4/lb and I buy pork loin for $1.40-1.80/lb and pork butt for $.80-1.40/lb. They have their livestock killed, cleaned, and butchered for them adding to the cost.

My most expensive (useless?) hobbies have been RV'ing and competitive Trap shooting.

I had a fellow church member make a statement to me once, about how he could buy produce so much cheaper than I could grow it. I politely informed him that he couldn't afford to purchase as much as I give away from my bounty every year!

[JoeJames]

Used to do quite a bit of creek fishing: ultra light spinning rod 1/8th ounce lures. But I have gotten older and the rocks are slicker than they used to be. Hunting - used to squirrel hunt, rabbit hunt with beagles, and deer hunt, but not much now. Shooting - mostly revolver and some rifle. Casting - I have found that all in all I now enjoy that more than reloading and shooting - if that makes any sense, but I still do enjoy reloading and shooting. Reading, and do a little writing.

[mozeppa]

i had a friend that thought he'd like skydiving without a chute.

i never know if he liked it ...did it only once.

[tankgunner59]

To everybody except for me, my wife and son, my reloading hobby is useless. I like to collect knives and I sharpen them obsessively. I guess other than home improvement and reloading that's my "useless" hobby.
As for your deleted rant, believe me it's not just the ones around you. I have played video games with my son in the past, all first person shooter games, but I don't get the constant fixation on them, it gets boring real fast.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I collected hobbies for.....40 years. My wife used to say she always wondered what I was going to try next. Useless hobbies? Well, as far as monetary gain I suspect most have been fairly useless. For knowledge accumulated, (often useless except in trivia pursuit games), they've been priceless. If pleasure, fun and satisfaction have any value then they've all been much more than useless. They include sailing, (that ain't cheap with a nice boat), downhill and cross country skiing, skijouring, (two high bred dogs was enough so the dog sled never materialized), snowmobiling and snowshoeing, canoeing, white water kayaking, camping, mountain biking, bowhunting, hobby machine work, boating and water skiing and no doubt others. The only one of those I still participate in is XC skiing. I still hunt, shoot, load and pursue old rifles in old cartridges. Fly fishing with vintage bamboo rods and restoring vintage bamboo rods, fly tying and, no doubt the second most expensive and tied for first for the most fun, pleasure and satisfaction, collecting, working on and driving vintage sports cars.

Gardening isn't so much a hobby as a way of life since I was a little boy as is reading.
I can start my response, just about exactly like sharps4590 did. I don't have a wife to ask "what's next", but I have a few close friends who are always asking that, LOL.

Since Idaho45guy didn't ask for useful hobbies, I won't include that long list.
BUT as to USELESS...
1. Watching the TV News
2. Watching Movies
3. Drinking Wine
4. Petting my Cat
5. sorting cases by HS, for auto-pistol calibers
6. collecting rocks

[waksupi]

Fly tying is probably my most worthless activity. For what I have in materials and tools, I could have bought a lot of flies!

[Geezer in NH]

hobbies i have never done and never will. Golf, tennis, basket ball, baseball, football (american), hockey, car racing, walking through a mall

this!

[Digger]

Great reading about everyone's different hobbies ...
Besides flying in sailplanes in my high school and later days ..
Been metal detecting off and on thru the years , have not been able to the last few but now will get into it again as I so enjoy history and being out doors .
Live here in N. Nevada with all the history here and beauty , am lucky to live here.
Reloading and casting my own have been very enjoyable and with that have met new friends also .
Will avoid going off on stories here but great to read about others and theirs in life.

[country gent]

I was one of the lucky ones I made my biggest enjoyment a career. Started in my first job shop at 15. Got this little card that said journeyman tool and die maker at 22. Worked in the trade until I medically retired Now Im in the process of putting in my own shop both metal and wood. I really enjoy making fixing or improving things. Staying busy helps me with mobility and balance.

A new building, machines, tooling, and stock Im getting close to finishing.

Ive seen to many retire with nothing to do or occupy their time just waste away in a very few years.

[RoyEllis]

Back in the early 80's I had a useless hobby for almost 3yrs. Came home from deployment and found her with a boyfriend, so I put a stop to that hobby.

[Mk42gunner]

I like working on cars, as long as I don't have too. While it is fun to play around with an old hotrod or 4x4, it becomes a lot less fun when the only vehicle you have is broken down and you have to fix it to go to work tomorrow.

I like handtool wood working, I'm not very good at it, but I do strive to get better each time.

Something I just started is what they call greenwood spooncarving. I've made three spoons in the last three days, and so far I find it enjoyable. I need to get some better knives, I did the first ones with a hatchet, a Mora companion knife and a set of Harbor Freight gouges.

Don't do as I did and start with elm, the grain is something else when trying for a smooth finish.

Robert

[Winger Ed.]

I guess the only hobby that's not really productive beyond the enjoyment part is keeping the 21' antique boat
and not using it as much as I should.

[375supermag]

Hi...
Other than hunting and shooting, my useless hobbies include babysitting a couple of Labrador Retrievers, studying military history (mostly WWII) and paleontology.

[beemer]

I love motorcycles but sold both my old BMW's last summer. Legs are not good and that makes it hard to ride and add the fact that I am older slower and don't bounce well makes it not worth it.

I like to make dulcimers, build an ocasional long rifle and turn bowls. I also dabble in leather working.

I collect knives, old woodworking tools, Gillette safety razors and other old useless junk.

None of it has made much money but I've had a good time.

Dave

[megasupermagnum]

Hobbies I have never done and never will. GOLF, Tennis, Basket ball, Baseball, Football (American), Hockey, Car racing, Walking through a Mall

No football, hockey, or racing? What the heck kind of northern Minnesotan are you?:grin:

[David2011]

In my opinion any hobby that gives pleasure, passes the time, produces something useful or stimulates the mind is not useless. One of the early ways I learned problem solving was building flying model airplanes followed by street rods as I got older. That kind of skill building lasts a lifetime.

[savagetactical]

No such thing as a useless hobby. They are very beneficial for health and keeping your mind sharp. There are Lots of hobbies others engage in which don’t interest me, but overall if they keep you active mentally and physically it os a good thing.

[Land Owner]

Useless hobbies??

A starter marriage.

Decades of separating and saving silver dimes, quarters, half dollars, wheat pennies, silver certificates, $2 bills, silver dollars, thinking one day I'll hit the "jackpot" as inflatiron rises, the government prints dollar bills like toilet paper, and money ain't worth squat anymore.

401k savings over 30 years that won't put food on the table for 2 in retirement.

Hobby farming as food plotting for wildlife that is either destroyed year after year by drought, flood, fire, hurricane, or the deer eat everything to the dirt line before opening day...also poachers.

Amassing an armory of significant wealth, dying, and leaving your spouse to dispose of it for dimes on the dollar

[pete501]

My hobby used to be yard sale-ing. I used to be really serious. I would have a list of 30 or so addresses, plan a route, go to sales early, ask the sellers for specific list of items including lead. It wasn't totally useless, I resold and most everything I own was obtained at garage/yard/estate sales, most of the time I was wearing clothes found at the sales.

I don't go early anymore due to the crowds and covid.

We may go to one or two if they are close and of interest.

The expectation of finding anything of value has usually passed by the time we get there. There is a new group competitors too.

Still enjoyable but I focus on finding seemingly useless stuff. I like finding old metal funnels. Nothing makes me happier than coming home with a flexible spouted galvanize funnel, except for one with a brass screen in the bottom. The reason I say useless stuff is that I already have a collection of them. Who really needs 17 old metal funnels.

My wife is the same way with tupperware.

[kevin c]

I used to collect polished spheres of various minerals. Also exotic wood boxes.

The boxes now gather dust on shelves and the balls are in a shoebox in a closet somewhere. I only remember the names of two of the minerals and one of the wood types.

Now I cast , load and shoot. I read a lot more now that I’ve retired. Still like learning stuff. Will travel with the wife when it’s easier to do.

[dk17hmr]

For a while I really got into rubiks cubes. I don't have much time for "useless" hobbies with two young boys in the house, and a very busy wife.

One of my obsessions is traditional archery. It's probably the least productive hobby I have because I don't general have time to shoot tournaments, I can't shoot in my yard, and rarely get the chance to hunt with them. I do get to shoot indoors in the winter at my local club one night a week. Most of my hunting lately is done with a long range rifle, because meat in the freezer quickly is more important than time away from my family.

[Omega]

I don't consider any of my hobbies as useless, because they either give me relaxation, education, or food, so while some can get rather expensive, as I always take things to the extreme in research and equipment until I get proficient at it. Sometimes, it ends up never being used beyond learning how, which my wife would say it was useless, but I would argue her hobbies can be described likewise.

[sigep1764]

Ive been into RC vehicles off and on over the years, buggies, monster trucks, trail trucks, nitro hydroplanes, had a 1/5 scale two stroke buggy, some helicopters. I have a couple of vehicles and a motorcycle that I enjoy. Recently Ive gotten into a compound bow and a crossbow that I love shooting. I like target shooting, squirrel and deer hunting. I don't necessarily think they're useless. Learned a lot of skills and knowledge through them.

[alfadan]

Aside from shooting of course, I like metal working, repairing/fabricating, gardening, taking care of my property, firewood (yes its a hobby!) Oil lamps and lanterns, fishing and a little hunting. I used to do ham radio but Im getting too asocial for that.
I think videogaming is pointless but whatever floats your goat.

[gwpercle]

Bathing and doing Laundry

Gary

[TyGuy]

… but I don't get the constant fixation on them, it gets boring real fast.

The modern video game is like a drug to some. People can plunge themselves into a “life” where they can be something extraordinary. Games have become so deep that people can lose themselves into a fantasy world where they are a supernaturally talented or skilled and there are no permanent consequences for decisions or failure. They can turn off the real world and step into an alternate and generally “better” reality. In games you may lose or die, but only because you haven’t found the trick to win yet and you can just try again and again until you succeed. You have lost nothing but time, and if you’re this deep into a game, time in the real world is irrelevant anymore anyway.

This is the draw to gaming. A chance to escape reality and become exceptional… all while neglecting everything that is actually important. And when the game is finally turned off you have nothing to show for it.

[waksupi]

My hobby used to be yard sale-ing. I used to be really serious. I would have a list of 30 or so addresses, plan a route, go to sales early, ask the sellers for specific list of items including lead. It wasn't totally useless, I resold and most everything I own was obtained at garage/yard/estate sales, most of the time I was wearing clothes found at the sales.

I don't go early anymore due to the crowds and covid.

We may go to one or two if they are close and of interest.

The expectation of finding anything of value has usually passed by the time we get there. There is a new group competitors too.

Still enjoyable but I focus on finding seemingly useless stuff. I like finding old metal funnels. Nothing makes me happier than coming home with a flexible spouted galvanize funnel, except for one with a brass screen in the bottom. The reason I say useless stuff is that I already have a collection of them. Who really needs 17 old metal funnels.

My wife is the same way with tupperware.

I'm a bit of a yard sale addict, too. I've gotten more selective, and will only go to ones at old farms, ranches, or older houses. The ones in newer housing complexes are loaded with kid clothes and toys, and worthless junk. I find some real gems at old farms and ranches.

[GregLaROCHE]

Nothing is useless if it keeps your mind working and body moving after retirement.

[Mk42gunner]

Bathing and doing Laundry

Gary
Please remind prospective visitors how long it has been since either of these happened.

Robert

[ryanmattes]

I've been accused of collecting expensive and time consuming hobbies as my hobby.

I used to read a lot, but these days it's mostly audio books in the car.

I stated playing music as a kid, and was actually singing on stage starting in elementary school. I had bands in middle school and high school, and played regularly with one band or another into my early 40's. Music was never a hobby to me, it's just part of who I am.

I've always made things. Woodworking, simple machines, stuff like that. I've been in software my entire adult life, so I build all kinds of little electronic devices. Working on a sensor for my brother's wood shop vacuum system right now, to tell him when the sawdust bucket is full. I built an arcade system with 50 classic arcade games with the right emulators for them all, so I can play Pac-Man and Joust and stuff. I just build things as I think of them.

I was taking photography seriously for a while. I played with wildlife photography, macro photography, I shot a couple friends' weddings, did some model work, etc. I got pretty good, but it's been a while and my gear is pretty out of date now.

I kept and bred snakes for about a decade. Mostly Australian carpet pythons, but also a few other species. Also geckos. I kept and bred rare geckos from Madagascar for a while. I still have one snake, one of the babies I hatched and sold to a friend of my brother's, who then a few years later got married and had kids, and the wife said "no snakes" so he gave her back to me.

I've been reloading for years, and then started casting a couple years ago.

I keep bees. That's fairly new, only about a year now.

I've been growing a garden for decades now. Mostly tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, but sometimes cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, green beans, peas, etc.

I still have a dozen more hobbies I intend to pick up. So maybe they're right: I collect expensive and time consuming hobbies as a hobby.



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[jimlj]

I have a lathe and have become highly successful in turning chunks of wood into shavings.

[lead chucker]

Under water basket weaving. No i will stick to reloading and shooting.

[Sasquatch-1]

Under water basket weaving.

Maybe you can combine that with gwpercle bathing and laundry hobby.

[GasGuzzler]

It was building or restoring vintage BMX but it's 1000% golf now. I'm hooked.

[bedbugbilly]

GasGuzzler . . . . to each their own and I say that with respect . . . . I have a cousin who lives for golf too . .. he would play it 24 hour a day if he could ... . .

I tried it once but it just didn't turnkey wheels . . . I mean . . . you've got this itty bitty little ball and you whack it with a sticks you can chase, and once you catch up, you whack it again and chase it some more . . . seems to me it would be a lot more efficient to just shoot the darn thing and get it over with and let it lay . . . . and I'm guessing that a lot of folks who do it probably think like me based on my experience of trying it a few times . . . seems like I would watch some fella whack that little ole ball and for some reason . . . there would be a lot of swearing. I saw a guy hit one once and it flew into a pond . . . he cussed up a storm and I was thinking he should have been happy 'cause it would drown and he wouldn't have to chase it anymore.

[Daekar]

I feel like most sports are pointless and arbitrary... I really fail to understand why anyone cares about watching them unless they have a kid on the team, and I feel like physical activity could be better achieved hiking to see the world or doing something useful, like splitting wood.

Most TV/streaming shows are garbage and a complete waste of time.

Of course, I love many kinds of video games, so I'm some ways that makes me a huge hypocrite...

[Big Tom]

My most "useless" hobby is that I enjoy trying out different things... but bottom line, the "bring you pleasure" part is the only thing that counts for me in regards to my hobbies. Monetary or other value I might get out of my hobbies are unnecessary side effects.

[country gent]

My wife once described golf as a big man beating a little ball with a club. This was in a LGS to a news reporter. Her point was by how its descried any thing can be made to look violent and nasty by how its described.

The owner of the shop was a friend of the family and was laughing at the way she turned the table on him. Her segment never made it on the air LOL

[2A-Jay]

Reloading and Shooting Are hobbies for me, When I ain't doing one or the other, I am usually either building something or reading a good book

[VariableRecall]

The modern video game is like a drug to some. People can plunge themselves into a “life” where they can be something extraordinary. Games have become so deep that people can lose themselves into a fantasy world where they are a supernaturally talented or skilled and there are no permanent consequences for decisions or failure. They can turn off the real world and step into an alternate and generally “better” reality. In games you may lose or die, but only because you haven’t found the trick to win yet and you can just try again and again until you succeed. You have lost nothing but time, and if you’re this deep into a game, time in the real world is irrelevant anymore anyway.

This is the draw to gaming. A chance to escape reality and become exceptional… all while neglecting everything that is actually important. And when the game is finally turned off you have nothing to show for it.

There is also a draw to games, like Real time strategy and 4X, where the units you control are quite unexceptional, in comparison to your foes. I suppose the fantasy portion of it is to be able to lead your ragtag gaggle of ships, swordsmen, or starships and the like to greatness. One of my favorites out of the genre is Kenshi, where you lead your scrappy team of swordsmen to domination through the hostile fantasy world you reside in.
The good thing is that you don't have to make your stay permanent in its grim, cruel world...

[Battis]

I like to restore old stuff - guns, boats, and my latest - a carriage.
I'm about 90% done with this (working on my front porch).
Why? No idea. My house was built by a carriage maker.
Before and now.

[Jedman]

I have always been told by friends I have too many irons in the fire. 20 years ago that was absolutely true, I did everything for myself from building my house, building several cars, hunted , fished, had gardens with about everything my wife and I ate and canned, made wine, beer, did woodworking, built guns, rifle & pistol shooting, trap & skeet, reloading, and played a lot of golf. Between just me and the wife we had 6 vehicles and I did all of the repairs and maintenance on them and then one day out of the blue I had a heart attack. I remember the ambulance coming to my home and the next thing I remember was a doctor asking me if I had seen the light ???
I guess they had to use the paddles several times on me to get me going again but I don’t remember a thing .

To make a long story short I recovered quickly and tried to go right back where I was for a short time until a friend gave me a important thing to think about. He said You know how many times you get to go around don’t you ?…..
ONCE !
From that day on I think a lot about what I really enjoy and what’s important and have given up a lot of those things and still am very active but I do have much less energy now so I am learning slowly to slow down some.

I have always loved buying, selling, trading guns since I have been a young kid. Now the hunt for unusual guns is as much fun as anything and my wife approves ! Modifying and refinishing guns is a main hobby, I still hunt fish and shoot but a little less and still play golf.
This was kinda long winded but I feel sorry for some people who don’t have any hobbies !
If you make it to retirement and then have nothing ??? I would just die I guess.

Jedman

[almar]

I have many hobbies. Gunsmithing, blacksmithing, machining, reloading, shooting, woodworking, breadmaking, curing meat, whinemaking, beermaking, film photography, making black powder for shooting, weightlifting, running, knifemaking, making self bows...probably some i'm forgetting...none that I find useless really except maybe film photography...but not really...I don't know.

[popper]

Playing elec guitar and Bass, might even learn to read music some da.

[Gator 45/70]

I like to restore old stuff - guns, boats, and my latest - a carriage.
I'm about 90% done with this (working on my front porch).
Why? No idea. My house was built by a carriage maker.
Before and now.

That sir is awesome !!! Where's the LIKE button !

[ryanmattes]

I have many hobbies. Gunsmithing, blacksmithing, machining, reloading, shooting, woodworking, breadmaking, curing meat, whinemaking, beermaking, film photography, making black powder for shooting, weightlifting, running, knifemaking, making self bows...probably some i'm forgetting...none that I find useless really except maybe film photography...but not really...I don't know.You need to start keeping bees. Then you can add mead to the beer and wine. Plus there are dozens of things you can do with wax, and honey is an excellent sugar substitute.

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[GONRA]

In the useless hobby category, GONRA wonders -
has anyone checked out the Brits "Train Spotting"?
Check it out.....

[Sasquatch-1]

I have a cousin who lives for golf too . .. he would play it 24 hour a day if he could ... . .

I tried it once but it just didn't turnkey wheels . . . I mean . . . you've got this itty bitty little ball and you whack it with a sticks you can chase, and once you catch up, you whack it again and chase it some more . . . seems to me it would be a lot more efficient to just shoot the darn thing and get it over with and let it lay . . . . and I'm guessing that a lot of folks who do it probably think like me based on my experience of trying it a few times . . . seems like I would watch some fella whack that little ole ball and for some reason . . . there would be a lot of swearing. I saw a guy hit one once and it flew into a pond . . . he cussed up a storm and I was thinking he should have been happy 'cause it would drown and he wouldn't have to chase it anymore.

At my club we shoot 'em with muzzle loaders. A .54 cal round ball makes a hole about the size of a .22.

[GasGuzzler]

Hobbies I have never done and never will. GOLF, Tennis, Basket ball, Baseball, Football (American), Hockey, Car racing, Walking through a MallAll of those are or have been hobbies of mine other than hockey since I'm a Texas lifer.

[Lloyd Smale]

it was fishing for me. 80k (actually probably had more then a 100k into it) boat all the tackle and gear. a 100-150 bucks in gas a trip to catch a couple fish that at the time i could buy for 7 bucks a lb. Now fish goes for twice that and it still wouldnt pay. Sold my boat and buy fish at the fish market. I might buy a smaller boat that would be more practical and could be used on the small lakes and big one too and wouldnt cost me a 1/3 the gas those two 250 hp two strokes at. maybe a little 17 whaler with a 115 four stroke.

[Mal Paso]

Recreational Earth Moving. Tractors are fun. I opened an old road and 6 months later I saw it from space, on Google Earth. You can play with boulders and fill in most of your mistakes.

I think lightman has a tractor and plants bird seed for free, I hope he's having fun!

The only useless part is bad timing. One amateur did a major grading of Apple Pie Ridge road 2 days before a big storm and everyone was stuck up to their axles in mud. We posted his phone at the bottom to make sure he got credit.

[JLF]

My hobbies are weapons, reloading, hunting and every other day running 8 km. I do not consider these hobbies as useless, quite the contrary. Any hobby , makes me happy and makes me enjoy life. What I consider a waste of time is work, whose sole purpose is to make money. "Only the cheap is bought with money."

[imashooter2]

Golf can get expensive to play decent courses here in the tri state area. But as my friend Slughammer always says, it’s cheaper than drag racing.

[Battis]

Recreational Earth Moving. Tractors are fun

There was a place a few years ago where you could drive the big earth movers around just for fun. It might still exist, I'm not sure. Now, that'd be fun and useless. Sign me up.

found it:
https://www.extremesandbox.com/

[mobilemail]

I used to have an electric RC 4WD monster truck - biggest waste of money ever. Dumb things are made of plastic and break quickly, and the batteries are horribly expensive. And all you do is stand there and watch the darn thing. I sold it before I went broke.

[cwtebay]

There was a place a few years ago where you could drive the big earth movers around just for fun. It might still exist, I'm not sure. Now, that'd be fun and useless. Sign me up.

found it:
https://www.extremesandbox.com/I have a friend who has done well in life, his "hobby" is running heavy equipment. Since I ran everything that moves dirt for a living for a number of years - I get to go hang out with him.
He'll lease a piece of heavy equipment for a couple of months just to reshape his environment. The best was 2 years ago when a D11N, 988K and a couple of 725 trucks for his newest land purchase. You can definitely move mountains (with the right amount of time and money).
I think it took over a week to even get his "toys" put together from transport.
Watching his face though - like a little boy playing in his sandbox.

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[JonB_in_Glencoe]

In the useless hobby category, GONRA wonders -
has anyone checked out the Brits "Train Spotting"?
Check it out.....

A few years back, I heard good things about the 1996 british movie "Trainspotting", so I bought it cheap, used on fleabay, just to watch it. It was pretty good, but it surely isn't for everyone.
Since I liked it, I then ordered the 2017 sequel "T2 trainspotting", and spent a little too much ...and after watching it, I barely could watch the whole thing, IT"S THE WORSE MOVIE EVER !

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have a lathe and have become highly successful in turning chunks of wood into shavings.

I'm just starting this hobby. I was hoping to find a use for the shavings [smilie=p:

[higgins]

Based on my catches, for the last couple of years fishing has been a useless hobby. At least the scenery is good where I fish.

[jimlj]

I'm just starting this hobby. I was hoping to find a use for the shavings [smilie=p:

I’ve found the shavings work good when fluxing a pot of lead, but when you become as expert as I at turning good wood to shavings, you can make a lifetime supply in a few minutes. Let me know if you come up with other uses for them.

[Sasquatch-1]

I'm just starting this hobby. I was hoping to find a use for the shavings [smilie=p:

Buy some large farm animals. They need bedding and it would give you another hobby.:dung_hits_fan::oops:

[Loudenboomer]

291767
The biggest exercise in chasing my tail was my years running my nostalgia front engine dragster. Use less Hobby? I don't think so. It was the most fun I ever had behind a steering wheel!! Met so many wonderful people doing it.

[ryanmattes]

I'm actually indulging in two of my more expensive and useless hobbies right now: a 25 year old scotch and a Montecristo cigar. Neither is good for me, both cost too much, but damn I get a lot of enjoyment out of them on the rare occasions that I indulge.

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[cwtebay]

I'm actually indulging in two of my more expensive and useless hobbies right now: a 25 year old scotch and a Montecristo cigar. Neither is good for me, both cost too much, but damn I get a lot of enjoyment out of them on the rare occasions that I indulge.

Sent from my Pixel 5a using TapatalkWhat Scotch and which Monte Cristo cigar?

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[ryanmattes]

What Scotch and which Monte Cristo cigar?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using TapatalkIt was a Glenlivet XXV that was a gift several years ago. It was sitting there with only a bit left in the bottle, with the alcohol slowly evaporating, so I decided to kill it. The Montecristo was nothing special, maybe an $8-$10 cigar, but it was pretty good.

I quit my job and started a company with a.ling-time friend and now business partner recently, and today was my first day full-time with the new job, so I thought I'd celebrate a bit. It sounds a bit scary, but honestly it'll be a lot less work than having a day job and working on the company nights and weekends. So it's actually a bit of a relief. So a decent scotch was in order.

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[Land Owner]

Not to stir any debate, but I have lost the lungs for cigars since surviving Covid. I doubt I will touch another for the remainder of my days. Struggling for oxygen absorption (viral pneumonia on top of bacteriological pneumonia) while staring Death in the eyes is pause for soul searching. I felt, first hand, the debilitating effect of compromised lungs, which chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) sufferers feel every second of every day. Fortunately for me, I don't have COPD and it was not "my time" as I faced, what could have been, my own extinction.

I do appreciate a good single malt scotch, in moderation, and as needed for medicinal purposes, from time to time.

[Lloyd Smale]

Based on my catches, for the last couple of years fishing has been a useless hobby. At least the scenery is good where I fish.

not much to see 3o miles out in lake superior. But i do know that fish even at 20 bucks a lb would be a bargain compared to what it cost me over the last 10 or 15 years. Probably could have bought the fish i ate with just the cost of my two electric downriggers ands surely with just the electronics on the boat. Had over 5k in one of the fishfinders and there were two of them. Lets not talk rods and reels and lures and gas and beer and upkeep and dock fees. THEN add the price of the boat. Wife once told me if i sat down and figured it out i could probably take the whole family out for steak an lobster for what those fish cost. Comical thing is i could probably take your family along too.

[15meter]

Look at my Avatar.

Dumbest sport ever invented. Wait for ice to sail, most often multiple hours away. Load up and drive there only to have a snow storm blow in and ruined the ice. Or no wind. Or too much wind.

Plus you have to drink your beer FAST so it doesn't get too cold. But a chunky beer is still a beer.

I've been doing it for 46 years, about to start my 47th year. I have 3 boats, down from 5, my daughter has a DN also.

But I'm a piker, was talking to a buddy Friday evening, he's got over 70 years iceboating and is looking forward to this season. He's only 84. And building a 24' cold molded sailboat as his covid project. Started it at the beginning of covid, expects to be sailing it next summer.

He's been called the Energizer Bunny.

I've tried most of the standard hobbies, bicycling, downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, shooting, casting and reloading, water skiing, motorcycling, woodworking--that's mostly wood turning now. Soft water sailing, played a little bit with racing hydroplanes. Did demolition derby once, that was a blast, if running junkers weren't so expensive I'd do that again.

Even took up cow pasture pool for a while.(golf)

Curling, would like do that more, first time was at the start of covid house arrest. What's not to like about a sport that has beer cup holders at each end of the curling sheet. There's a club about 50 miles away that is tempting to join. Would probably annoy the wife, already belong to two boat clubs, a wood turning club, two gun clubs, shoot regularly at 3 other gun clubs, and I'm going to join the one I shoot sporting clays at after the first of the year. Not sure she'd be happy with me in 7 clubs.

The shooting/reloading/sailing/wood working/bicycling/motorcycling are what's left, but may try the downhill again this winter, haven't done that in a number of years. And I've squirreled away plans for an 8' hydroplane and I've still got a nice 50's vintage 10 hp Merc........

And I forgot luge, did that just once, need to do that again. There's a track that's about 40 minutes south of my daughters house. Just another excuse to go visit her.

This old geezer retirement stuff is hard.

[jaysouth]

My former golfing was the most useless hobby I ever had. The most expensive were slow horses and fast women.

[Land Owner]

...and older whiskey ^^^^^

[Lloyd Smale]

291767
The biggest exercise in chasing my tail was my years running my nostalgia front engine dragster. Use less Hobby? I don't think so. It was the most fun I ever had behind a steering wheel!! Met so many wonderful people doing it.

cars have always came second only to shooting. Lots would think the money ive spent on cars was a waste but to me its as much as a part of my life as shooting and i dont consider it a waste

[Lloyd Smale]

My former golfing was the most useless hobby I ever had. The most expensive were slow horses and fast women.

never did see the attraction to dressing up like a yuppy and wacking a little white ball around and following it in a cart. they do make good targets though.

[Lloyd Smale]

Look at my Avatar.

Dumbest sport ever invented. Wait for ice to sail, most often multiple hours away. Load up and drive there only to have a snow storm blow in and ruined the ice. Or no wind. Or too much wind.

Plus you have to drink your beer FAST so it doesn't get too cold. But a chunky beer is still a beer.

I've been doing it for 46 years, about to start my 47th year. I have 3 boats, down from 5, my daughter has a DN also.

But I'm a piker, was talking to a buddy Friday evening, he's got over 70 years iceboating and is looking forward to this season. He's only 84. And building a 24' cold molded sailboat as his covid project. Started it at the beginning of covid, expects to be sailing it next summer.

He's been called the Energizer Bunny.

I've tried most of the standard hobbies, bicycling, downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, shooting, casting and reloading, water skiing, motorcycling, woodworking--that's mostly wood turning now. Soft water sailing, played a little bit with racing hydroplanes. Did demolition derby once, that was a blast, if running junkers weren't so expensive I'd do that again.

Even took up cow pasture pool for a while.(golf)

Curling, would like do that more, first time was at the start of covid house arrest. What's not to like about a sport that has beer cup holders at each end of the curling sheet. There's a club about 50 miles away that is tempting to join. Would probably annoy the wife, already belong to two boat clubs, a wood turning club, two gun clubs, shoot regularly at 3 other gun clubs, and I'm going to join the one I shoot sporting clays at after the first of the year. Not sure she'd be happy with me in 7 clubs.

The shooting/reloading/sailing/wood working/bicycling/motorcycling are what's left, but may try the downhill again this winter, haven't done that in a number of years. And I've squirreled away plans for an 8' hydroplane and I've still got a nice 50's vintage 10 hp Merc........

And I forgot luge, did that just once, need to do that again. There's a track that's about 40 minutes south of my daughters house. Just another excuse to go visit her.

This old geezer retirement stuff is hard.

now theres a busy man!

[Mal Paso]

never did see the attraction to dressing up like a yuppy and wacking a little white ball around and following it in a cart. they do make good targets though.

Actually I dressed like Ben Hogan, the yuppy thing came much later but ya, golf balls are better as targets than projectiles. Unless you had a gun that fired golf balls. Golf course will need a rangemaster but count me in.

[Sasquatch-1]

Actually I dressed like Ben Hogan, the yuppy thing came much later but ya, golf balls are better as targets than projectiles. Unless you had a gun that fired golf balls. Golf course will need a rangemaster but count me in.

Something like a modified potato cannon. First hole 800 yds par 3.:groner:

[snowwolfe]

Stamp collecting on any and all levels

[GONRA]

GONRA sez - Bad Ass Wallace's birdie has to be the cutest thing ever!
Has the National Geographic seen this foto?

[Loudenboomer]

I have never golfed. I have hit a few balls though. A while back relatives from the city were putting a golf ball around the yard. Little did they know I was waiting around the corner for them to get a safe distance away from the balls. You Shudda seen the look on their faces when I started busting their balls with my lever action .357 :)

[Lloyd Smale]

I have never golfed. I have hit a few balls though. A while back relatives from the city were putting a golf ball around the yard. Little did they know I was waiting around the corner for them to get a safe distance away from the balls. You Shudda seen the look on their faces when I started busting their balls with my lever action .357 :)

yup those golfs arent very good eating. Maybe a pressure cooker?

[Sasquatch-1]

yup those golfs arent very good eating. Maybe a pressure cooker?

Never actually seen a GOLF, only their EGGS.[smilie=l:

[Armorer77]

Golf balls make decent projectiles for BP cannon . They tend to hook beyond 200 yards .

[Mal Paso]

Golf balls make decent projectiles for BP cannon . They tend to hook beyond 200 yards .

It's probably your grip. LOL

[jdfoxinc]

DONT fire them in a forested area unless wearing full plate armor.

[Armorer77]

It works better if you cast your own from zinc or lead .

[Scrounge]

I'm just starting this hobby. I was hoping to find a use for the shavings [smilie=p:

Flux your cast boolit lead with them. I'm doing metal working, with lathes and milling machines and stuff. The shavings from that are recyclable, but it's probably not something I'm going to be recycling myself, and if you contaminate steel with aluminum or vice versa, you get less money for the scrap. Though I have melted aluminum...

Bill