# What hobbies tend to have the most obsessive enthusiasts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066 "2009-10-08T16:54:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/21 "2009-10-09T01:15:59Z")
the potential for a hobby to be obsessive is proportional to the number of magazines devoted to it. the ones which are slicker even more so. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/22 "2009-10-09T01:32:11Z")
Knitters. Oh, god, the knitters. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/23 "2009-10-09T02:29:57Z")
> [@BKReporter](#): > > What hobbies tend to have the most obsessive enthusiasts? I believe you misspelled “tedious wankers” there at the end.\* - In a previous thread on this topic someone, an Aussie I believe, used that to describe some bunch of hobbyists he knew. The term stuck. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/24 "2009-10-09T02:48:35Z")
> [@Tibbytoes](#): > > Imagine a gang of the most devious, obsessive compulsive, psychopaths ever to infest Earth’s surface—the type of ruffians who induce the blood of brave souls to chill fast; cause great predatory beasts to retreat in horror; make zombies seem like kindly heart-on-sleeve wearers by comparison. Imagine all that, multiplied by a factor of ten…only then can you begin to comprehend the alien life-forms known as collectors of thimbles. :eek: They don’t happen to meet in the same building as the [pinheads](http://www.sfsite.com/gra/0512/gplg.jpg), do they? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/25 "2009-10-09T02:52:15Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > I love golf. I play every chance I get. I admit, I instictively think everyone should _want_ to play golf, even though I know they don’t. I routinely invite folks, unsure of whether they actually play. I think maybe they don’t play because they’ve never been invited, here’ the chance. No clubs, no problem, got an extra set. God bless you. I had never golfed and was frankly a bit suspicious of the entire scene. Then two years ago my business manager invited me. He let me share his clubs and was extremely tolerant of my slow learning curve. Wow. What a great time. Two years later, I have my own clubs. I’m slowly learning on my own and having a blast. I’ll golf now with anyone I can find to hit the course. Plus it’s great for business. Customer being a tool? Invite him out for a round! A few beers and everyone’s happy, having a great time, and suddenly next week he’s not complaining anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/26 "2009-10-09T04:05:52Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > Same one. Apparently eliminates machine noise. Though it doesn’t eliminate it as well as just buying the frickin’ CD. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/27 "2009-10-09T04:12:06Z")
Two threads down-“_Porn_”. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/28 "2009-10-09T11:27:12Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Knitters. > > Oh, god, the knitters. Yet no one ever says anything to us about it. Maybe because we always have pointy sticks in our hands. Anyone ever met a military miniatures painter? My husband is one. A wee Italian army is occupying the desk in our living room. And he and his friends can tie up the phone for hours and hours and HOURS discussing epaulet colors, decals, insignia, I don’t know what all else. Gods help the poor ebay seller who uses the wrong shade of tan for his Afrika Korps uniforms. My husband has actually called me in from another room to share his derision and laugh at the foolishness of such dunderheads. I smile and nod politely. Like he does for me when I show him a new shawl pattern. Give and take, it’s what makes a marriage strong. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/898d66/32.png) [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/29 "2009-10-09T11:50:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Knitters. > > Oh, god, the knitters. My friends and I refer to masturbating as knitting. I’m not sure I would call it a “hobby,” but some of those freaks are quite enthusiastic about it. Fishing. I have recently met a lot of people who fish and WOW. They’re obsessed with it and can’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to do it all the time. The worst part is when they make you watch videos of them standing around on a boat while one guy reels in a fish. It’s also one of those things that can range from being an inexpensive, simple endeavor to a multi-million dollar affair with huge boats and all sorts of electronic equipment. Those freaking boats can cost a fortune - millions of dollars. Really, I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/30 "2009-10-09T11:58:34Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Knitters. > > Oh, god, the knitters. Hey now, such language isn’t tolerated around here! Just because people are born a certain color gives you no right to… oh. oh you said kniTTers. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/31 "2009-10-09T12:25:45Z")
Many Mac users are just as bad as Linux people. They seem to spend 90% of their time bashing Windows. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/32 "2009-10-09T12:50:51Z")
Model train hobbyists ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/33 "2009-10-09T12:56:17Z")
The most obsessive model aeroplane and armour (and truck and car and boat) hobbyists are known as “rivet-counters”… because some of them quite literally count the number of moulded rivets on the kitset parts and compare it to real examples of whatever they’re building, and get all bent out of shape (excuse the pun) if they (or any other trivial details) don’t match. These people are regarded as extremists by most model kit hobbyists, though. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/34 "2009-10-09T14:18:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I believe you misspelled “tedious wankers” there at the end.\* > > - In a previous thread on this topic someone, an Aussie I believe, used that to describe some bunch of hobbyists he knew. The term stuck. I love it. Oh, you beat me to it. Wasn’t sure linking to it was legal, but that term still pops into my head today. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/35 "2009-10-09T14:19:39Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Many Mac users are just as bad as Linux people. They seem to spend 90% of their time bashing Windows. it’s not a hobby it’s a religion. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/36 "2009-10-09T14:26:03Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > it’s not a hobby it’s a religion. and so goes the old joke: what can a PC user do that a Mac user can’t? shut the fuck up about his computer ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/37 "2009-10-09T14:27:06Z")
> [@omgzebras](#): > > Don’t forget a super premium power cord that preserves the voltage integrity of the electrical current (or something). Just disregard the 50 miles of plain cable the electricity passed through before it got to your house, it’s the last 24 inches that really matter. true enthusiasts have their own power station.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/38 "2009-10-09T22:08:10Z")
I got interested in shortwave radio and read in an American Radio Relay League handbook some kind of oath or list of ethics for the Ham Radio Amateur. One of the items said “I will not neglect my family because of my hobby”, and I liked that they included that in the list. Then it dawned on me that the point of it was making these guys spend time with their families because one of their hobby books said to. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/39 "2009-10-09T22:24:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I believe you misspelled “tedious wankers” there at the end.\* > > - In a previous thread on this topic someone, an Aussie I believe, used that to describe some bunch of hobbyists he knew. The term stuck. I love it. [Tedious Wankers.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441078&highlight=tedious+wankers) And Kiwi, not Aussie. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066/40 "2009-10-09T23:57:14Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Yet no one ever says anything to us about it. Maybe because we always have pointy sticks in our hands. I do! … I just make sure I’m further away than arm’s length plus needle. \>_\> God help me if I ever meet a knitter who’s also an avid dart player. \<_\< (Well, there’s my grandmother, but I don’t mock my gramma for anything!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-hobbies-tend-to-have-the-most-obsessive-enthusiasts/513066.md?page=3)