The Most Unusual Hobby, Ranked

Voting rules: Choose the hobby you think is the most unusual!

Updated on Apr 28, 2024 06:58

In a world where unique hobbies often get overshadowed by mainstream interests, having a dedicated space where these lesser-known pursuits can shine helps build a diverse and interesting community. This list serves as a beacon for those special hobbies, providing a recognition zone that transforms hidden gems into shared treasures. By participating, users contribute to celebrating the creativity and peculiarity of human interests. Voting for these unusual hobbies not only enhances their visibility but also connects like-minded enthusiasts who might otherwise never meet. Each vote cast is an endorsement of individuality and a push against the conventional, encouraging others to take pride in what makes their hobby unique. This ever-changing ranking is a reflection of collective curiosity and an invitation to participate in and be part of a wider, appreciative audience.

What Is the Most Unusual Hobby?

1

71
votes
Phil Shaw · CC BY-SA 3.0

Extreme Ironing

Phil Shaw

This hobby involves taking an ironing board to remote and unusual locations and ironing clothes. It combines the thrill of extreme sports with the mundane task of ironing.
Extreme Ironing is an unconventional and adventurous hobby that involves ironing clothes in the most unconventional and extreme locations possible. It combines the mundane task of ironing with thrill-seeking and outdoor activities, creating a unique and exhilarating experience for participants.

Ironing Locations: Cliffs, mountaintops, forests, underwater, etc.

Extreme Activities: Rock climbing, skiing, skydiving, etc.

Safety Measures: Adherence to safety protocols while engaging in extreme ironing.

Ironing Equipment: Portable and lightweight irons, ironing boards, and related accessories.

Photography: Documenting extreme ironing stunts with photographs.
2

39
votes
Competitive Worm Charming

Tom Shufflebottom

This hobby involves using various techniques to lure earthworms out of the ground, with the goal of catching as many as possible in a set amount of time. It is a popular sport in England.
Competitive Worm Charming is a unique hobby that involves using various methods and techniques to attract the greatest number of worms to the surface of the ground within a designated area. Participants compete against each other to see who can charm the most worms within a set time limit.

Venue: Outdoor fields or gardens with suitable soil

Equipment: Worm sticks, vibration devices, musical instruments

Techniques: Stamping on the ground, vibrating the soil, playing rhythmic sounds

Duration: Usually 30 minutes to 1 hour

Scoring: Number of worms charmed to the surface
3

22
votes
Industry explorer · CC BY-SA 4.0

Urban Exploration

This hobby involves exploring abandoned buildings, tunnels, and other urban structures. It can be dangerous, but also provides a unique view of the urban landscape.
Urban Exploration is a unique and thrilling hobby that involves exploring and documenting abandoned or hidden urban structures, such as buildings, tunnels, or undergrounds. It provides enthusiasts with an opportunity to discover forgotten and untapped spaces, often with historical or architectural significance. This non-mainstream hobby offers a combination of adventure, photography, and historical exploration.

Adventure: Urban Exploration provides a sense of adventure and adrenaline rush as explorers navigate through unknown and sometimes dangerous environments.

Photography: Enthusiasts use Urban Exploration as an opportunity to capture captivating photographs of unique and decaying structures.

Historical Exploration: By exploring abandoned urban spaces, enthusiasts can uncover hidden histories and gain insights into the past.

Architecture: Urban Exploration often involves admiring the architectural elements of forgotten or neglected buildings.

Cultural Significance: This hobby offers a chance to understand the cultural heritage of urban spaces and the reasons behind their abandonment.
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24
votes
Competitive Dog Grooming

Michèle Ernewein

This hobby involves grooming dogs in elaborate and creative styles for competitions. It requires skill in grooming and creativity in design.
Competitive Dog Grooming is an intriguing hobby where professional groomers showcase their skills and creativity by transforming dogs through elaborate grooming techniques. It involves styling and sculpting a dog's fur into intricate patterns, shapes, and designs.

Grooming Techniques: Groomers use various techniques like clipping, scissoring, hand-stripping, and creative coloring to achieve unique looks.

Breed Standards: The grooming should adhere to breed standards and enhance the natural features of the dog.

Creative Themes: Groomers often choose themes like movie characters, animals, or fantasy creatures to bring out their artistic abilities.

Detail-oriented: Attention to detail is crucial, as groomers meticulously groom every aspect of the dog's appearance, including fur, nails, ears, and accessories.

Judging Criteria: Judges evaluate the overall design, creativity, technical skills, and presentation of the groomed dog.
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10
votes
Dave Farrance · CC BY-SA 3.0

Cheese Rolling

This hobby involves rolling a wheel of cheese down a hill and chasing after it. The first person to cross the finish line wins the cheese. It is a popular sport in England.
Cheese Rolling is an unusual sport that involves rolling a wheel of cheese down a steep hill and participants racing after it.

Location: Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester, England

Wheel of Cheese: Double Gloucester cheese weighing around 9 lbs (4 kg)

Hill Gradient: Approximately 1 in 2 (50% gradient)

Participants: Men and women of all ages

Safety Measures: Stunt mats and hay bales are placed along the course for protection
Cheese Rolling in other rankings
- Position 1 of 10 in Most random sport
6

6
votes
Quidditch

This hobby is based on the fictional sport from the Harry Potter series. It involves players flying on broomsticks and trying to score goals while avoiding "bludgers" and "snitches."
Quidditch is a fictional sport from the Harry Potter series created by J.K. Rowling. It is a unique combination of elements from various sports like rugby, dodgeball, and tag. The game is played on broomsticks, with two teams of seven players each striving to score points by throwing a ball called the Quaffle through the opposing team's goal hoops while avoiding being hit by bludgers and catching the elusive golden Snitch.

Year of Creation: 1990

Number of Players: 7 players per team

Equipment: Broomsticks, Quaffle, Bludgers, Golden Snitch

Objective: Score points by throwing the Quaffle through the opponent's goal hoops

Game Duration: Varies, until the Snitch is caught
7

14
votes
Trainspotting

This hobby involves observing and documenting trains, including their numbers and types. It is popular among railway enthusiasts.
Trainspotting is a hobby that involves observing and documenting trains as they pass by or stop at various railway stations. Enthusiasts, known as trainspotters, often gather at train stations or along railway tracks to collect information about different trains.

Observation: Trainspotters engage in the activity of closely observing trains, noting down details such as train numbers, locomotive types, and other relevant information.

Photography: Many trainspotters also capture photographs of trains to add to their collection or share with fellow enthusiasts.

Documentation: Trainspotters maintain detailed records or logs of their train sightings, often including information such as date, time, location, train schedules, and other noteworthy observations.

Equipment: Trainspotters commonly use binoculars, cameras, notebooks, and sometimes even specialized equipment like scanners or radios to enhance their observation and documentation process.

Spotting Locations: Trainspotters can be found at various locations, including train stations, railway bridges, platforms, or designated viewing areas along the tracks.
8

8
votes
Competitive Beard Growing

Ricki Hall

This hobby involves growing and grooming facial hair to compete in competitions. It requires patience and dedication to grow a winning beard.
Competitive Beard Growing is a unique and fascinating hobby that involves individuals growing and shaping their facial hair to compete in various competitions. It is an art form that showcases the creativity and dedication of beard enthusiasts.

Facial Hair Length: Beards must be a minimum of 4 inches in length to be eligible for competition.

Style and Shape: Participants can create various styles including full beards, moustaches, goatees, and even elaborate beard sculptures.

Grooming and Maintenance: Regular grooming, trimming, shaping, and maintenance are essential to achieve a well-groomed and presentable beard.

Creativity: Competitors are encouraged to display originality and creativity in the design and style of their beards.

Categories: Competitions are divided into different categories based on facial hair length, style, and shape.
9

5
votes
LARPing

This hobby involves live action role-playing, where participants act out characters in a fictional world. It combines elements of theater and improvisation.
LARPing, short for Live Action Role Playing, is a unique and immersive form of interactive gaming where participants physically act out the roles of their characters in a fictional setting. Unlike traditional tabletop role-playing games, LARPing involves real-time action and physical movement, encouraging players to engage in creative problem-solving and collaboration. Players often wear costumes and accessories to accurately portray their characters, making the whole experience more visually appealing and captivating.

Setting: LARPing can take place in a wide variety of fictional settings, including fantasy, sci-fi, historical eras, or even modern-day scenarios.

Characters: Participants create and play unique characters, each with their own traits, abilities, and story arcs, adding depth and personalization to the experience.

Action: LARPing involves physical activities such as combat, exploration, puzzle-solving, and interacting with the game world and other players.

Game Master: A game master or multiple game masters oversee the game, facilitating the story, managing rules, and resolving conflicts to ensure an enjoyable experience for all participants.

Rules System: LARPing utilizes a system of rules to govern gameplay, including combat mechanics, character progression, and resolution of in-game events.
10

5
votes
Brian Chu · CC BY 2.5

Competitive Eating

This hobby involves consuming large quantities of food in a set amount of time. It requires a strong stomach and a love of food.
Competitive Eating is a unique hobby where individuals participate in organized events to consume large quantities of food within a specified time limit, typically in a competitive setting. The goal is to eat as much food as possible in order to win the competition.

Food Types: Competitive Eating can involve various types of food, including hot dogs, hamburgers, pies, wings, tacos, and many others.

Time Limit: Competitors have a predetermined time limit within which they must finish eating. The time limit can range from a few minutes to an hour depending on the particular event.

Judging: Competitors are often judged based on the amount of food they have consumed within the time limit.

Techniques: Participants employ different techniques to maximize their eating speed and capacity, such as 'chipmunking' (storing food in the cheeks), 'dunking' (soaking food in liquids to facilitate swallowing), and 'inhaling' (rapidly swallowing without much chewing).

Safety Measures: Event organizers typically ensure the safety of participants by having medical professionals on-site and implementing rules to prevent choking or other health risks.

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About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most unusual hobby. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or hobby is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

2150 views
201 votes
10 ranked items

Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each hobby once every 24 hours. The rank of each hobby is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

More information on most unusual hobby

Background Information: Hobbies are activities that we do for leisure, relaxation, and pleasure. They can range from traditional and common ones like reading, playing sports, and gardening to more unique and unusual ones like collecting old postcards, practicing fire eating, and even extreme ironing. The most unusual hobby is often subjective and can vary from person to person. However, some activities are considered rare and uncommon, such as competitive beard growing, urban exploration, and taxidermy. These hobbies can be fascinating and intriguing, and they offer an opportunity for individuals to express their creativity and explore their interests. Regardless of how unusual a hobby may seem, it can bring joy and fulfillment to those who pursue it. It can also be a way to connect with like-minded individuals and build a community of enthusiasts who share the same passion. So, whether you have a quirky hobby or are looking to try something new, there is always something out there that can pique your interest and provide you with a new source of enjoyment in life.