Useless hobbies?

[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?

[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.



Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[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.