How long do your hobbies last???

[LEDAdd1ct]

I bounce around between high quality LED flashlights, high quality FM tuners, bicycles, hiking/walking, and computers.

Time and money are the biggest factors.

Biggest flashlight interest and biggest tuner interest is in the winter.

Biggest walking interest and biggest hiking interest is in the spring/summer/fall.

Walking is the cheapest hobby, then hiking, then flashlights, then bicycles.

Computers are somewhere in the middle.

I vary my hobbies when one gets tiring.

Biggest thing that excites me when walking is having a cool destination.
Biggest thing that excites me when hiking is something new to explore.
Biggest thing that excites me when playing with flashlights is something like a new charging system or higher CRI.
Biggest thing that excites me when cycling is a new component or piece of gear.
Biggest thing that excites me when playing with computers are higher efficiency parts and fanless gear:

http://www.fanlesstech.com/

I've been involved in all these hobbies for quite some time now.
Flashlights are the newest of them.

I thoroughly enjoy this hobby and interacting with other participants.

 

[JBE]

Depends really...

I've been an avid handgunner my entire life, so that one has stuck with me, though I don't invest as much into it as a lot of people do.

Knives stuck with me for about 15 years before I burned out on them.

Flashlights are still new to me as a hobby.

 

[Roger Ranger]

I have a few and give some a rest for a while,lights are ok till the armchair warriors write all there scare stories about starting WW3 with there exploding batteries and needing volt meters etc.:thumbsup: which of course is just silly nonsense talk.

I have been a refinery operator in a catalytic cracking unit since 1979. When you are dealing with equipment that can bite you in the ***, the scare stories, which have a basis in reality, are there to prevent new people from hurting themselves or others while they are learning the ropes. People need to understand that you can't give "little Johnny" a loaded TK75 for Christmas and walk away.

 

[gadget_lover]

I once heard my condition described as a "serial enthusiast". I take an interest in something, then research it, then experiment with it until I feel there is not much more to learn. Then I find a new "something" and the cycle repeats. It's served me well. I've built up a lot of skills over the years.

When my kids were young I raised them by myself, and every other weekend my ex-wife would take them for 2 days. I passed the time in video arcades, and became the best around at playing "BattleZone". I always had top score on that machine. I was spending $20 to $50 a week at the arcade. When I bought my first computer the rational was that it would supplant my arcade expenses, and it did. I spent much LESS on the computer and spent much more time using it. That led to a career in computer programming / system administration. I spent almost 30 years doing that.

Most recently I've hit a strange progression. About 15 years ago I had free time, so I stumbled into the field of locksmithing. I read all I could find, subscribed to the trade magazines and bought tools, blank keys, key duplicators, etc. After 6 months or so I could do all the major aspects of lock installation, repair, key generation, etc. I could make a functional lock that would trap a bad key. I could open a normal consumer grade safe without documentation. There were a lot of tools I did not buy because they were too expensive. I had hit that plateau... I wished that I had a mill to make my own tools.

Then I hit high tech flashlights. The ARC LS was the most advanced tech in the house for quite a while. 15 LUMENS from a pocket sized light! I built my collection to a hundred or so lights. I finally realized that I could not keep up with the biggest and best. Heck, I could not keep batteries in all of them! After about 4 years I slowed down and now I only pick up a new one every 6 to 8 months.

BUT.....

I figured out that I could build my own lights, and that all I needed were some basic machine tools. This led to buying a mini-lathe and making my first light. Then buying a micro mill and building more. Then I started machining other random things. Then buying a full size mill, then a mid sized lathe. Then the lights began to flood in from China at 1/4 the cost of my raw materials. I stopped making lights. I now have welding equipment in the mix too. Oh, and I've made my own tools and fixtures to work on locks.

Most recently I've been playing with guns. I've been shooting them and even have plans to make one from scratch. I'm still learning how to make a viable barrel for a small pistol. Everyone buys theirs, but I want the satisfaction of building 100% from scratch.

Of course, that's been set aside while I explore the world of online gaming. My friend convinced me to try Final Fantasy XIV and it's a major time waster.

Who knows what next week will bring?


Daniel

 

[william lafferty]

I have a few and give some a rest for a while,lights are ok till the armchair warriors write all there scare stories about starting WW3 with there exploding batteries and needing volt meters etc.:thumbsup: which of course is just silly nonsense talk.

Since putting a depleted cell in with a normal cell in series is likely to cause problems, how else are you going to know the cell is depleted unless you have a volt meter or a ZTS tester? There is an incident reported in the battery forum about a person who put two new 123 primaries into a light and had them vent presumably because one of them was depleted, causing him serious health issues. You can call this a scare story if you like, but seems to me it is useful to know such things can happen.

 

[Koto]

Been skateboarding since I was 13 (25 now). Definitely stopped going as hard that I work with my hands. I'm a bartender and having cuts on your hands from falling is NOT fun when there's alcohol on them at any given time. I barely do it anymore sadly. Maybe if I ever want to slow down and be a bar manager I'll get back into it.