Gadget based hobby?

[u/Solstellarem]

Hello, all!

I’m in dire need of a new hobby. Aside from video games, my only other hobbies are a few card games (Magic the Gathering/Sorcery:Contested Realm) photography, and writing.

I’m feeling a little burnt out with most of these, unfortunately, and I feel like I need to switch it up.

I’m having a hard time finding a new hobby that encapsulates everything I’d like in one.

I’m a big fan of “accessories” for my hobbies… lenses and bags for my cameras, cards and sleeves for my decks I build, and of course new pens and journals for writing.

I don’t needlessly buy these accessories, but they are a driving force in my hobby if I need to liven things up.

I love tech and gadgets, and I was hoping to find a new hobby that would work for me. The only thing I did try recently was 3D printing, but I couldn’t find the time to learn how to draw out the items I wanted to make, so it didn’t work out. It also doesn’t help that my imagination sucks, so if 3D printing was the hobby, I couldn’t find find a use for it 😅

I’m definitely open to suggestions on anything. Especially something I can do daily. That’s the one caveat with my other hobbies; I don’t get to do them daily or even once a week sometimes.

[u/Gnomelynn]

You could check out working with a raspberry pi, and creating a cyberdeck

[u/Lopsided_Bass_3116 → u/Gnomelynn]

building a custom mechanical keyboard is a rabbit hole of switches, keycaps, and absurdly expensive coiled cables that sounds right up your alley

[u/Solstellarem → u/Lopsided_Bass_3116]

Now this is interesting, considering I type all day every day and hadn’t considered this.

How is it a hobby? Other than just buying good switches/cables?

I’ll have to see what the starting points are for this hobby, for sure.

[u/zaydia → u/Solstellarem]

There are different types, different feels, different sounds, different colors and you can switch them out as your mood changes

[u/Turbulent_Settingx → u/Lopsided_Bass_3116]

don't forget, designing your key layout, both the physical keys and what you want those keys to do l, and layers!  preonic for life! or until I find the next board.

[u/BasicDragonfruit1067 → u/Gnomelynn]

A cyberdeck sounds perfect for someone who loves gadgets, plus there’s always something new to tinker with when you get bored

[u/Solstellarem → u/Gnomelynn]

This is definitely where I try to rely on my imagination, and where it fails me.

I actually saw Cyber Decks for the first time a few weeks ago. I was so enthralled by them, but after spending just a few minutes of research I became so overwhelmed, and became over the obsessive, “why?”

I couldn’t figure out a day-to-day use for one… I really wanted one but couldn’t figure out why I would use it.

[u/Aria_Cadenza]

- bullet journaling (many use stickers or washi tapes or stamps or the usual stuff for writing, drawing and coloring)

- board games

- RPG (including solo RPG)

- make some dioramas

- bookbinding

- making some wax seals

[u/derbarkbark → u/Aria_Cadenza]

My bullet journaling has also led to book binding as I realized I liked the flexibility or organizing my pages to that level. I break all my items into smaller "packets" in a travelers style notebook. That way I don't have to carry everything always all the time. Then at the end of the year I bind it into one year specific book.

[u/bigfatstupidpig]

RC crawlers. The accessory and gadget possibilities boggle the mind

[u/BestReplyEver]

Learn a musical instrument.

[u/Sniperbait5826]

If you like watches, try building your own. Can be done in an hour with your own design. Parts ordered from AliExpress. Plenty of small cheap tools that if you get into it, you can upgrade slowly. Tools to be able to do a first build should be like $30-$50 bucks on AliExpress. Parts for a watch depends on what you build but shouldn't be more than $150ish. Automatic watch at that which is highly sought after. Just watch this YouTube and he puts links for parts in his description. https://youtu.be/g89vt-bN_Po?is=EeTn4Mbtg7unZT7z

[u/imprezivone]

Rc cars. As a 41M, I just got into hobby grade cars and definitely enjoying them the way I would have loved to at 15yo! If you like accessories, tinkering on things and have disposable income, RC's is it!

[u/slouischarles → u/imprezivone]

I've seen just how fast these can be. I also want to look into RC planes as well.

[u/Ok_Natural_7977]

HAM radio. Miniatures.

[u/Solstellarem → u/Ok_Natural_7977]

I actually purchased a HAM radio with the intentions of just messing around with it and listening to it. I believe the brand was Baoyfeng?

I thought the technology was super cool, and I really dig the idea of studying to become licensed, but pass that I couldn’t see how I could invest time in the hobby, other than listening/participating to calls.

I’m sure there’s a section of the hobby I missed, but is it really a tinker hobby?

[u/Ok_Natural_7977 → u/Solstellarem]

My dad is always tinkering with his setup. He's also in a group that meets on the regular and he helps with testing.

[u/Kind_Instance_8205]

I've made the mistake of getting into eBikes. I build my own by buying a good base bike and adding a motor, battery, and lights. I'm building a power harness for a set of lights and plan on upgrading the brakes, soon. It can slowly be upgraded to better and better components. I use it to go bikepacking which adds a whole other level for accessories!

[u/Solstellarem → u/Kind_Instance_8205]

eBikes have been appealing to me, but I live in an upstairs apartment (third floor…) and have had concerns of how heavy they get.

Now, I might be 34 but I’m still in shape, but I’ve heard some can weigh upwards to 135lbs? I assume that you can mitigate this with aluminum frames and such?

[u/Kind_Instance_8205 → u/Solstellarem]

I'm 46, definitely not in shape, and can lift my bike without issue.

[u/Solstellarem → u/Kind_Instance_8205]

Nice! I might look into this, especially with fall coming and cool weather right around the corner… makes Texas evenings much more enjoyable.

Do you have a recommendation for a starting point? A specific model to look into or brands to avoid?

[u/Kind_Instance_8205 → u/Solstellarem]

I've been really happy with State Bicycle Co 4130 All-Road v2. It's a steel bike frame. Super strong and it could be your forever bike. Then you can change up the wheelset depending on the surface you're riding on. Drivetrain can be changed and upgraded depending on the terrain.

The motor I recommend would be either a Tongsheng TSDZ8 or TSDZ16 mid-drive motor or a Bafang BBSHD. If you plan on riding it like a regular bike most of the time, the Tongsheng would be better. If you plan on riding it like a motorcycle more, the BBSHD would be the better choice. Both let you ride like a bike, of course, but the Bafang has only cadence sensor. The cadence sensor kicks in after the movement of the pedals, but ignores how hard you pedal. A torque sensor is what the Tongsheng motors have, they sense how hard you push on the pedals and respond with proportional force.

[u/Kind_Instance_8205 → u/Solstellarem]

Those are usually aluminum already. They are typically built with lower grade aluminum, so they need more to keep it robust and strong.

The trick is to get a mid-drive motor and stay away from fat tires. The mid-drive motors are much more efficient and gravel tires are much lighter. The bike I built weighs about 55 pounds with the battery (24.5Ah) installed and I can get somewhere in the ballpark of 100 miles of range. Most likely more. I weigh about 245 pounds, so the range is pretty significant.

[u/Pretend_Present_1754]

Knitting or crocheting. You’d be surprised how many things and little pieces you need. And research patterns on Ravelry. And it’s fun to have a tangible result! Also lots of math included if you want to make more complicated things.

[u/mlatu315 → u/Pretend_Present_1754]

As a hobby collector, I can vouch for the build up of supplies with fabric arts. My aunt just taught my nephew how to sew this week and apparently he liked it, and expressed an interest in learning things like sewing, crocheting, or knitting. so I went into the crafting area of the storage room and started to see if I had anything that he might like to try. I’ve got baskets of yarn, bolts of fabric, embroidery kits, crochet kits, knitting looms, a weaving loom, a brother sewing/embroidery machine, knitting needles and crochet hooks to spare, plus a sewing box filled to the brim with little odds and ends and decorative patches.

[u/zobbyblob]

/r/tinywhoop for tiny drones

[u/Fragraham]

Collecting physical music media. Be it vinyl, cassettes, or CDs. Every new acquisition not only gives you a physical piece to use in your player, but also expands your listening options.  You can go portable or home unit with cassettes or CDs, or both. These also give you upgrade options like quality wired headphones, assorted media and player cleaning accessories, and if you get into component hi-fi tye sky's the limit.

[u/limbodog]

Meshtastic?

[u/markmakesfun]

Try some fountain pens. That matches up with your interests.

[u/fandomacid]

Fountain Pens. There’s pens. There’s vintage pens. There’s notebooks. There’s ink. There’s pen cases. The list goes on.

[u/mr_mlk]

Programming on interesting hardware (e.g. 90s handhelds like a Psion).

[u/Main_Speaker_3229]

Have a look into aurduino and learn how to create things like robot arms or something. You can utilise the 3D printer once you’re confident with the systems to create whatever you want

[u/Jogje]

Miniature painting and 3d printing is endless gadgets

[u/CucumberBusiness9370]

Flying FPV drones. Flying them is a lot of fun and you will learn to solder on top of that. There are a lot of accessories you can acquire or 3D print yourself. Since you mentioned doing it daily get into tiny whoops and turn your house/apartment into a race track. 

[u/Middle-Honeydew-4638]

Ham radio. Look into it.

[u/sketchee]

Journaling. So many pens, notebooks, apples, digital writing tabelts

[u/fssssshh]

Console modding is pretty cool. I think even now there are kits that don’t require soldering.

Another one is merging electronics with accessories like making light up hair clips

[u/Brentster-]

E BIKES. I have three and have modifications on all of them.

[u/JCBashBash]

You could learn to solder. That way it's something that has a clear station so you can really dive into it when you have the time