# How expensive is your hobby?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-expensive-is-your-hobby/1026139>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 29, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-expensive-is-your-hobby/1026139 "2025-12-29T12:55:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-expensive-is-your-hobby/1026139/68 "2025-12-29T19:47:33Z")

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My principal hobby is soaring: flying sailplanes (aka gliders - which despite the name are distinct from hang gliders). This definitely ranks as expensive: a decent glider can cost over $100k (but they tend to hold their value well). An aerotow launch (typically one per day for an experienced pilot) is ~$65.

Minor hobbies include 3-D printing, birdwatching and Via Ferrata (basically, hiking on a vertical cliff with a safety harness). None of these costs more than ~$1000/year.

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