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Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
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Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#92There's a surprisingly high number of people in my extended social circle who picked up archery as a sport. It's actually a complex discipline with a huge range of bows and projectiles to choose from, each having unique characteristics you have to train for. Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad.
Archery does seem like it's having a moment right now.
I wonder if it's some combination of people wanting a more tactile hobby plus some vague apocalyptic undercurrents in society today.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#93I've been playing exclusively CRPGs for the last 12 months or so, which was kinda a niche genre before the success of BG3. There are tons of way to beat those games and optimizing how you build your party and characters (what players call "min-maxing") while following a highly narrative story is a lot of fun. Most of them are quite old and often on sales for like 5 bucks on Steam, for which you get hundreds of hours of gameplay. A few recommendations: Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, Owlcat's Pathfinders & W40K Rogue Trader, Larian's Divinity 1, 2 & BG3, Bioware's BG1 & BG2, etc…
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#94Not sure if this is an established hobby or something I've just come up with myself, but I've been "dashboarding." Essentially I have a Blazor webapp that integrates lots of data sources (some manual, some automatic) from areas of my life and I use that to visualize and analyze goals and habits. The main page consists of rolling-weekly stats that deliver "integration scores." Each score contributes to an overall scor…
Do you have more details on this project anywhere? I've been working on habit-building and tracking in my journal for the past year and a half or so, but I'm looking to amp it up a bit more. Your project appeals to my software developer and hobby collector mindset and would love to learn more about it.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#95I’m obsessed with powerlifting. Not only because big numbers get bigger but also the physical changes that occur with a healthy dose of lifting each week. It’s also easy to track lifting stats and there are tons of analysis tools out there if data analysis is something you enjoy. Also, I’m trying to learn guitar - right now following the Justinguitar.com lessons
one of my favorite parts of powerlifting, opposed to hiit or other fitness lifting, is the lack in physical change. i feel like i look the same but can point to numbers that show im much stronger
True - I guess I am more of a power-builder. Which for those that don't know is powerlifting but also incorporates a lot of bodybuilding-type rep work for aesthetics. You lose some specificity doing this arguably so you're expending energy that would be better spent powerlifting if that was your true goal but this trade off is worth it to me.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#96Invasive species removal, bird identification, trail running, mountain biking, audiobook listening while walking. All are best done out of doors. :P Most are teh opposite of the posture and brain patterns that intensive computer usage encourages.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#97My hobby is organizing in-person meetups for random people to get together, chat and make friends. Barely structured, if at all. I've found this rewarding and ended up making friends this way. You have to accept that 5-15% of the people who would show up to something like this are genuine weirdos you probably don't want to be around. And another 10% at any given meetup are autistic or neuro-divergent but well-meaning…
Between the genuine weirdos, the autistic and/or the neuro-divergent, is there anyone left, really? Do the "normies" genuinely exist? Happy-go-lucky, knows a bit about everything but doesn't nerd out on anything, picks up every conversation subject and listens and holds their own in a manner that is just right? I am genuinely curious about the existence of these "superhumans".
that describes me but i would never say i'm a "superhuman". I feel like i'm a boring glue guy.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#98I got into HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) fencing last year through a club in my little town. Olympic/sport fencing is fun, but imagine (safely) swinging a 4lbs. steel longsword with two hands at your opponent instead. It's a ton of fun, a great workout (I burn ~1500 calories per class), and competitive so it keeps my interest.
Then there's the whole nerd layer of reading all the original sources from the 15th century, attempting to retain the historical character of the techniques while engaging in real combat, etc. It's both intellectually and physically stimulating.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#99very cool post
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#100Bellringing, specifically change ringing. It’s a type of church bell ringing that is rather algorithmic in nature. Tends to attract mathy types. Religion not required or expected! If you have English-style tower bells near you, it's worth checking out, even if only to listen.
Rest assured, my mind is blown.