Need a hobby

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I've recently gotten back in to RC hobby as my son has shown an interest. I poked around a while back and found that there are A LOT of VERY expensive rigs out there, but there's a fairly small sect of the hobby dedicated to "micro" or "mini" crawlers.



I just bought my son a 1/18 scale Jeep (he got a VERY good report from his teacher, so it was a nice little reward for him). Shipped to my door ready to roll with everything included for just over $100. Cool thing is it's hobby grade, so if something breaks, we can fix it.



I just ordered myself a 1/32 scale crawler. It's literally about the size of my phone (footprint wise). I will have to assemble it, and I had to purchase some of the parts separate from the kit, but again, I gave just over $100 for everything I'll need, not including some specialty tools I wanted to make the job easier, but those can cross over into other things I do. But you don't really need anything special to put them together in general.



Anyway, even the 1/18 scale rig can be run indoors. But the cool thing is it is 4-wd, so it's pretty darn capable outdoors as well. My son and I have been playing with it pretty hard for almost 2 weeks now, and we're having an ABSOLUTE BLAST. It gets him off his "tablet" and outside more, which I like. It wasn't a whole lot of money, it can be repaired or modified if we so choose, and he can play with it inside if the weather's bad. He sets up his own "obstacle courses" and everything.



Another cool thing about it is that it doesn't take up much space. You can use whatever's around to "crawl" on, inside or out; the world suddenly becomes your "playground"! It's VERY capable, and we've only run the battery out once, and not even "all the way" that time. Since it's a "crawler", it doesn't go real fast (but you can get "micro" rigs that DO go fast; we needed something that could go "off-road" though). You can play for a few minutes and put it away. Or you can tinker with it, then play for a bit, then put it away. Or you can play for longer too if you want. And you can walk around outside driving it around to get you up and out if that's what you need. Or you can sit on your couch and drive it over your shoes (yes, even in your camper). You don't need to be "artistic", but you can be if you want to be. You can get scale bodies and trick them out all kinds of ways, or you keep it simple and just play.



Anyway, I'm having SO much fun! And I can't wait to build my rig and run it with my boy.



Added a pic to show the size of this one; sunglasses for "scale". Mine will be about half this size when complete.

Enjoy! I tried r/c cars years ago. It was fun for a couple weeks then it just sat there collecting dust. That's one of those things that is fun with others but not so much alone.

[Magnolia Tom]

Cooking? Learn to cook something you enjoy eating like BBQ or pizza. Both of which can keep you occupied for hours. Or something else like baking cookies or cakes.
I personally would love to pick up welding and forging.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Tom

Cooking? Learn to cook something you enjoy eating like BBQ or pizza. Both of which can keep you occupied for hours. Or something else like baking cookies or cakes.
I personally would love to pick up welding and forging.

That's not a hobby for me, that's just daily life. My wife and I take turns.

I've never done any forging but I've done quite a bit of welding. I now have a pacemaker/defibrilator so that's in the past. A good shock wouldn't be a good thing. It's hard to do in an RV too.

[Jay2504]

I sometimes fool around getting 1950s clock radios working. It’s not too hard, can be done indoors, doesn’t take a lot of tools. Jay.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Jay2504

I sometimes fool around getting 1950s clock radios working. It’s not too hard, can be done indoors, doesn’t take a lot of tools. Jay.

I'm sure I have all the tools required but I wouldn't know where to find the radios or how to get started.

[deepsea5]

Whatever hobby you settle on, just make sure it isn't hardcore "drinking".

That never ends well.

[Happy wife / happy life]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

We have been full time in our RV for several years now but rarely get to actually travel due to health issues. I love to fish and use my metal detector but with the current weather that has been minimal. What hobbies do you enjoy that can be done indoors? I've tried a few through the years but so far nothing has stuck. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Have you ever considered the shooting sports? Indoor shooting ranges are warm and dry in the winter and air conditioned in the summer time. You can always make a trip to one and see if it perks your interest. You will find most of the people very friendly and will be more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the sport.

[Jay2504]

I usually get them from e bay. Take a course to understand how they work. Do you have a soldering gun? Jay

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Happy wife / happy life

Have you ever considered the shooting sports? Indoor shooting ranges are warm and dry in the winter and air conditioned in the summer time. You can always make a trip to one and see if it perks your interest. You will find most of the people very friendly and will be more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the sport.

I have been shooting for many years. I've been to an indoor range a couple times but in this area they cost prohibitive plus finding ammo these days is difficult and expensive. My wife and I were into Cowboy Action Shooting for a while. We still have the equipment but don't shoot any more.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Jay2504

I usually get them from e bay. Take a course to understand how they work. Do you have a soldering gun? Jay

I have several irons and lots of other soldering tools. What do you do with them after you repair them? I'd never be able to get rid of them. Nobody I know listens to radio anymore.

[Happy wife / happy life]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I have been shooting for many years. I've been to an indoor range a couple times but in this area they cost prohibitive plus finding ammo these days is difficult and expensive. My wife and I were into Cowboy Action Shooting for a while. We still have the equipment but don't shoot any more.

Cowboy Action Shooting! I guess shooting " perked" your interest. I'm still trying to convince Shorty ( that's my DW) that I need a 45 long colt. Best of luck finding a new hobby.

[Jay2504]

I give them to my grandchildren as each one graduates high school. Jay

[JimD]

Buy yourself a little drone and fly it inside your rig. Wives really love that sort of thing. Maybe you could get her one and you could compete with each other.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Happy wife / happy life

Cowboy Action Shooting! I guess shooting " perked" your interest. I'm still trying to convince Shorty ( that's my DW) that I need a 45 long colt. Best of luck finding a new hobby.

I have 2 Ruger 45 colts and 2 S&W Performance Center 45 Schofields. My wife has 2 .357 Ruger Blackhawks. They are fun to shoot. My wife made our holsters. She made a special, carved set for my Schofields.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by JimD

Buy yourself a little drone and fly it inside your rig. Wives really love that sort of thing. Maybe you could get her one and you could compete with each other.

I tried that but after flying R/C helis it was a bit boring. I flew it a few times and sold it.

[Thomson]

I do leather crafting, bought a microscope, and now have several real digital cameras. Even when it's bad outside you can learn how to use the camera and their extraordinary features. A bad cloudy day taking pictures of some treasure from Quartzsite is a valuable experience.

[Bayoutalker]

Originally Posted by Thomson

I do leather crafting, bought a microscope, and now have several real digital cameras. Even when it's bad outside you can learn how to use the camera and their extraordinary features. A bad cloudy day taking pictures of some treasure from Quartzsite is a valuable experience.

I have a couple Canon Rebels that I've had for years. I learned about them years ago. I just have never found a use for the pics so I got tired of it. I take them out occasionally and charge the batteries but seldom actually use them. I never cared much for indoor photography.

My wife is the leather crafter. She made several sets of holsters for us. Here is a pick of one set she carved for me.

[Magnolia Tom]

Originally Posted by Bayoutalker

I have 2 Ruger 45 colts and 2 S&W Performance Center 45 Schofields. My wife has 2 .357 Ruger Blackhawks. They are fun to shoot. My wife made our holsters. She made a special, carved set for my Schofields. Attachment 67331Attachment 67330

Your wife does some beautiful work! Your Holsters are absolutely awesome.

[Thomson]

Then join SASS. I've been to numerous events as a spectator and a participant. You're half way there with those beautiful holsters. I wish I was that good.

[Magnolia Tom]

I was going to suggest shooting sports as well but didn’t know how that would go over here. I imagine if you’ve been in the sport for a while you’ve probably got a decent supply of ammo. But, yes it’s hard to find now and way over priced.

I mostly have more modern or tactical “equipment” but I do have a few vintage pieces that my late FIL passed on to me. I really enjoy taking them apart, cleaning, polishing, and modifying all of them.. I probably spend more time after the range with cleaning and fiddling than I do at the range practicing.