Lockpicking is nice. You won’t believe how many friends ask for help after they know your hobby. Most of the time it’s just “my keys are still inside, so it’s not locked”. It’s the easiest, but you don’t need to pick the lock to open those.

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Role-playing games. It might hit close to mainstream now, after all those tv series and movies where they appear directly or indirectly, but as an actual hobby, it’s still niche thing.

I think they should be part of educational program, globally.

I like buying LEGO minifigures and then designing/building biomes for them to inhabit. I use BrickLink Studio to design the builds and then upload my parts list to BrickLink to get used bricks to build them. I also post them on Rebrickable for free, but I’ve fallen behind and need to post more on there.

Here are a few that I’ve built.

Calligraphy. The color of the inks are just mesmerizing. But my normal handwriting is really ugly…

I do nearly all my clothes shopping at second hand stores. I love finding just the right items to make up great outfits to go out in. It can sometimes take months to piece together an outfit, though I do also mix and match things. It doesn’t matter to me how long it takes; I enjoy shopping around, I enjoy a bargain, and I enjoy the challenge and reward of making my own great outfits at a tiny cost.

I’ve never really enjoyed playing online games. (I don’t like being harassed by strangers. I have enough problems with my self-esteem, thank you.) But now I’ve gotten into several niche games I’d prefer to play with people and I have no skills or energy to make that happen. The most niche one is the Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. I love that game and I’d love to play with my friends, but my friends have very little trek fandom/rts enthusiast crossover.

Blacksmithing. Something so primal and simple about it. And you get to play with fire. But what I find most satisfying is the ability, once you have a few simple tools, to make any other tools you need. It’s like the og 3d printing.

I shop Goodwill like it’s a job.

DVDs are always welcome. We have like 900 discs right now. $1.50-$3 a piece over several years.

Then it’s all kitchen gadgets. All kinds of single purpose appliances for <$10. If they work out, keep them or upgrade them to a higher quality brand. If they don’t, donate them back.

It’s a lot of fun, and a real shopping experience that forces you to consider different options because if limitations where Amazon might funnel you into a single solution.

I’m a big fan of amateur radio, specifically portable operation, and Parks on the Air.

I’ll take my radio out to a remote location, throw an antenna up into some trees, and talk to people all over the US.

Currently I need mains power, but I’m looking to buy a battery soon, and I already have some solar panels gifted from a club member.

I live in Michigan, and last time I was out, my most distant contacts were in Dallas, Texas, around 1100 miles away, while I was sitting at a picnic table at my local state park campground.

The ability to identify practically any bird or reptile in North America. I get friends asking me what things are all the time… then trying to extend my knowledge to fungi and plants (which I’m getting better with, but not at the same level). It doesn’t feel too niche until I interact with my friends outside of biology.

Mosaic crocheting. You can create blankets that basically look like quilts, or photographs (although I don’t like the look of the latter).

I play mandolin, which I think is niche? This summer I’ve been learning ableton live with the goal of combining edm influences and small, odd instruments.

I play the flute in the marching/concert band of my small town (we are all amateurs).

Home server take an old pc setup with a load of old harddrives noodle about with all the self hosting apps.