# Expensive toy's/hobbies anybody?



## C-kidder (Aug 2, 2014)

Everybody has their expensive toy's. Mine are funny little pieces of colored aluminum that shoot gelatin balls at high speeds.

I payed $2200 for this thing. Some hobbies are just silly expensive and paintball is one of those sports. I recently have decided to take a step back while I further my personal career but it was a blast to play competitively for the last 3 years. 














Anybody else spend silly amounts of money on another hobby besides fish??


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## Longimanus (Apr 21, 2010)

Snakes. I spend way too much on my snakes and their enclosures.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow that's nice... I've only played a couple of times for fun. One of those times was when me and my bud were running around in Penticton with shorts and beaters and only face masks as protection. Whole body was covered in black and blue.. and orange when we tapped out.

I don't have any hobbies right now unfortunately, lol not enough money to enjoy them right now. Looking forward to seeing what other members post though!


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Fishing can get expensive. Custom rods, fly gears, handmade cp reel, old vintage reels, it is an addiction.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Yeah, we just fixed up our boat that was beaten up by racoons and rotted from rain so I'll be getting into fishing probably by next year. That's really relaxing and I'm looking forward to it. Might even try fly fishing if I get good just to mix it up. I'll be on the island, probably the Cambpell River area if anyone has any hot spots they'd be willing to share ;D


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## King-eL (Apr 21, 2010)

I do play paintball too and actually plenty of bca member here do play paintball. However I stopped playing on 2012 as got busy with work. I already spent countless of dollars on customizing my tippmann 98, then going to speedball and getting a boblong marq 7 and boblong victory ripper. Playing on the field was costly already. Used to play at indoor richmond paintball and spending $300+ every weekend. It was kinda expensive so I stopped for a while. 
Here is my dog a rottweiler x pitbull wearing my sly profit mask.



Another current expensive hobby right now is building gunpla. Not as expensive as paintball but overall finished build to enter to competition can be very expensive.

However nothing more expensive on collecting rare/unique/monster fish for my fish hobby.


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Sigh, horses. 
Not so much now I've got a small child. Used to be into it big time back in my single days. 3 horses, board, hay, lessons, shows, clinics, vet bill or two...it was more than a hobby, it was my career for a few years. Loved every hour but being perpetually broke while my horses had the nicest tack got a bit hard to take! I sure mucked out my share of stalls!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Yup. I played some paintball back in the late 90s. Back then the 'expensive' guns were around 1200. I got into modding cars for a few years. That gets really expensive quick. 
The aquarium hobby is definitely not as cash intensive and compared to cars I think it's more spouse friendly - until you get the 6th tank...


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## AccidentalAquarist (Sep 11, 2013)

Do kids qualify as a hobby....they cost me a huge amount every week


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

SCUBA is my expensive hobby, the only other thing I can afford on my student salary (i.e. zilch for most of the year). Sometimes I look back at when I called fishkeeping expensive and laugh, I've ended up spending exponentially more money on SCUBA than my aquariums. Moving forward in any direction (photography, divemaster/instructor, or technical) is going to cost me an arm and a leg. Is definitely worth it though, especially since I am in an Oceanography and Biology major.

Attached is myself during sidemount training and Octo-Mom, she's probably nearing the end of her term now actually(Octopus females die after guarding their eggs)...


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Cool pics, and I didn't know that about Octopi, thanks!!


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

Our expensive hobbies include: Gaming (beastly PCs), Ski/Snowboard, sailing in the summer (if we could afford it...), we want to get more into scuba diving and we are in the process of building a 3D printer... Oh and school - school eats too much money but that doesnt really count as a "hobby".


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm into building some crazy PC's every so often whenever I can afford $1600. I don't game often anymore, but I'm still a nerd at heart 

What would be one of the first things you or the hubby would build with the 3d printer?!


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Dog aka broken down golf cart aka non stop vet bills,jeeping,camping that's it as of now and I'd like to get back into fishing and finally take up my uncles offer to take me hunting. Although not all agree hunting is good or bad but they do fill the freezer FYI.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Ahhh, not a tech nerd like some of my friends but looking to spend around $1000 on boxing day this year for parts for a new gaming PC. Essentially just for Star Wars Battlefront III :lol: Used to be more into the competitive side of FPS games but school and an aging desktop has taken that past time away from me.

My girlfriend and I want to invest into a 3D printer as well (mainly trinkets for her and misc. parts for me) but they are rather costly, is your build completely from scratch or from a kit?



Bunny said:


> Our expensive hobbies include: Gaming (beastly PCs), Ski/Snowboard, sailing in the summer (if we could afford it...), we want to get more into scuba diving and we are in the process of building a 3D printer... Oh and school - school eats too much money but that doesnt really count as a "hobby".


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Besides keeping sw tanks, my main "hobby" expenses are my garden/greenhouses and now my tortoises. My friend and I bought some expensive tortoises for both pets and some breeding stock. We've both bred fw & sw fish, as well as fragged 100s of corals in the past. I used to breed canaries and finches, and he's bred lovebirds and corn snakes, so if we get into another type of pet, we generally will look into the breeding aspects. Tortoises are fairly expensive to buy (roughly $350-400 for babies from a breeder, but $600-700 from LFS), but really inexpensive in terms of food (eats dandelions, weeds, and left over veg). We enjoy being able to handle the tortoises and the kids love them so win-win. Fish are nice, but petting a fish is not really much of an option.


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

The first things we will be printing is replacement parts for the printer  Besides that I want to print some Chobits ears for an easy con-"costume", better sliders for the character tiles of Betrayal at House on the Hill game among other things. 

It's a MendelMax 1.5 and we sourced the parts separately from eBay and whatnot.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

If you're interested in 3d projects hackaday.com might have some intriguing projects.


Anthony: I remember seeing one of Pam's turtles eating a strawberry as a treat. What kind of tortoise did you get?


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I'm a computer junkie
curently testing the new Windows 10 Technical Preview = pre BETA
on 4 laptops
I moderate on about 20 computer suport groups

Ponds

Birds:: budgies - Zebra Finches

collect : Snap-on Tools
Motorcyles 3 +
SSR hot rod
Fishing tackle - too much
Trades tools /electrician/millwiright/carpenter/plumber/fabricator
Clocks over 100
Ericson Telephones 4 - 3 over 100 years old


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

SeaHorse_Fanatic said:


> Besides keeping sw tanks, my main "hobby" expenses are my garden/greenhouses and now my tortoises. My friend and I bought some expensive tortoises for both pets and some breeding stock. We've both bred fw & sw fish, as well as fragged 100s of corals in the past. I used to breed canaries and finches, and he's bred lovebirds and corn snakes, so if we get into another type of pet, we generally will look into the breeding aspects. Tortoises are fairly expensive to buy (roughly $350-400 for babies from a breeder, but $600-700 from LFS), but really inexpensive in terms of food (eats dandelions, weeds, and left over veg). We enjoy being able to handle the tortoises and the kids love them so win-win. Fish are nice, but petting a fish is not really much of an option.


I wonder what would happen if you got interested in horses! Haha. Get a large acreage!


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Momobobo said:


> SCUBA is my expensive hobby, the only other thing I can afford on my student salary (i.e. zilch for most of the year). Sometimes I look back at when I called fishkeeping expensive and laugh, I've ended up spending exponentially more money on SCUBA than my aquariums. Moving forward in any direction (photography, divemaster/instructor, or technical) is going to cost me an arm and a leg. Is definitely worth it though, especially since I am in an Oceanography and Biology major.
> 
> Attached is myself during sidemount training and Octo-Mom, she's probably nearing the end of her term now actually(Octopus females die after guarding their eggs)...


That's fantastic! You ever been diving up Port Hardy area? God's Pocket etc? My husband (divemaster, technical and all that) says it's the best place in the world and he has dove in many places around the world. If he could start again at 19, he'd take your career path for sure! Good luck!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

effox said:


> If you're interested in 3d projects hackaday.com might have some intriguing projects.
> 
> Anthony: I remember seeing one of Pam's turtles eating a strawberry as a treat. What kind of tortoise did you get?


We have mostly Hermann's tortoises. I also have a male Russian tortoise from someone near Edmonton who shipped it to me cause he wanted it to spend more time outdoors and less time stuck indoors. I have a large backyard, grow lots of organic veg and 2 large greenhouses (one completed) for it to wander around when the weather is nice. The breeding group of Hermann's is currently at my friend's place. These tortoises eat mostly weeds, and fruit/sweet stuff does not agree with their digestion system. There are other species that are more omnivorous though.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

greenfin said:


> I wonder what would happen if you got interested in horses! Haha. Get a large acreage!


In my mind, I "have" acreage" (yeah right, living in S. Burnaby). I am OCD so if I get into something it is hard to stop. That's why in my backyard I have 20 fruit trees (mostly combo stone-fruit and combo apple/pear/cherry trees). When they grow bigger, I will be transplanting an "free" orchard to my friend's 5 acres in Aldergrove where they can go in-ground as opposed to mostly being in large cedar planter boxes.

*FRUIT TREES:*
3 Fruit Combo (Nectarine, Peach, Green Gage Plum, Puget Gold Apricot)
5 Esplaniered (2-dimensional) Fruit Combo (Nect., Peach, Plum, Apricot)
3 Cherry Combo
1 five-variety Apple Combo
1 Fuji Apple
1 Pear Combo
1 Oscar Pear
2 Fuyu Persimmons
2 Nectarine (Hardy Red)
1 Peach (Red Haven)

I also got into citrus trees and now have 35 citrus trees (21 varieties). Almost all my citrus and fruit trees are on semi-dwarf or dwarf rootstock. In a couple of years, I should be self-sufficient for citrus. My current citrus hoard includes:

*LEMONS:*
3 Ponderosa lemons (giant lemons)
2 Improved Meyers
3 Eureka 
1 Pink Varigated Eureka

*LIMES:*
2 Australian Finger limes (rarest type of citrus in Canada)
1 Bearrs
3 Key limes
2 ******

*SWEET ORANGES/MANDARINS/SASUMAS:*
1 Washington Navel
1 Weeping Washington Navel
1 Cara Cara
2 Owari Sasuma
1 Page Mandarin
1 Kara Mandarin
4 Kishu seedless Mandarin
2 Tangerine

*MISCEL:*
1 Pomelo
1 Yuzu ichandrin (exotic Japanese citrus variety)
2 Calamondin
1 Meiwa Kumquat

Trying to "root" a couple of branches of Flying Dragon citrus to use as dwarf rootstock in the future. In the spring, I hope to get my citrus buddy to come show me how to do grafting so we can make four and five variety citrus trees. I have a big tangerine that I may be able to turn into a 10+ variety citrus combo tree in the future.

I have 6 citrus in my front window and the rest in my big greenhouse (16' x 8' x 10' tall). I just spent a lot of money & time rebuilding that greenhouse to have double pane glass and double pane polycarbonate so that it can properly house sub-tropical citrus throughout the winter here with minimal extra heating. I will be building a frame within the greenhouse and adding another layer of protection in the form of 6 mm greenhouse poly. My plan is to have insulated greenhouses within the main greenhouse to create microclimate areas that will stay warm even if the temperature outside drops to well below zero degrees this winter. I am in the process of getting some foam insulation sheets to build insulated "boxes" around the base of my planter pots and cedar boxes, then I will build the mini-greenhouse shelters to enclose them. Lots of extra work but then again, trying to create a citrus grove in BC requires a lot of extra effort and planning to survive the winters. I would NOT try growing citrus in any other place in Canada.

Anthony


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

greenfin said:


> That's fantastic! You ever been diving up Port Hardy area? God's Pocket etc? My husband (divemaster, technical and all that) says it's the best place in the world and he has dove in many places around the world. If he could start again at 19, he'd take your career path for sure! Good luck!


Unfortunately not though I hope to make it there one day, I made a decision when I first started that I would not go on "expensive" trips until my SAC rate and skill were high enough that I could make it worthwhile. I'm at that point now but have been too busy with school to go. However, my winter break is coming and winter diving is the best diving! :bigsmile:

I don't know if I'm making the "right" choice with my career path, but I'm hopeful for the future! Thanks 

edit: Anthony that is some intense fruitage. I think you have more than grocery stores hahah


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## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Scuba diving, motor biking, kite boarding for me.. Used to be photography but I have slowed down on that one.

And lately. Renos and pimp the goose projects .


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

right before I get into this hobby, I was into Golf.. A good golf set can get expensive as well as green fees on some good golf courses.. I have not golfed for a while because of my family situation ( having 2 kids and other issues)  I still miss playing golf here and there but with 5 tanks ( 2 salty) and 2 kids.. I can only dream about it lol


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

jhj0112 said:


> right before I get into this hobby, I was into Golf.. A good golf set can get expensive as well as green fees on some good golf courses.. I have not golfed for a while because of my family situation ( having 2 kids and other issues)  I still miss playing golf here and there but with 5 tanks ( 2 salty) and 2 kids.. I can only dream about it lol


I put away the golf clubs when we started having kids too. When I came back, I started taking the game up a little more seriously. It was either golf, or fishing. For decent fishing, I need to take the weekend off, to play a round of golf, budget 6 hours from start to finish. So I chose golf. During the season, all I really do for the fish tanks are general maintenance. Once the season is over, it's time for breeding projects and rearranging tanks.

The sport is expensive, I started the year thinking about a new putter, since then I've replaced every club in the bag except the putter.

But the popularity of the game seems to be on a decline, especially in the US. Too long to play, green fees $$, steep learning curve. Sometimes your game is on, most times not, but it's just hanging out with your buddies that makes it fun. It's always great to plan next seasons golf trips, Bandon Dunes is high on my bucket list, golfing on the Big Island is fun. Golf in Vegas is always good when you need a blast of sunshine when it's been raining here for months on end.


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## MarcelBro (Apr 10, 2014)

My other hobby is rc trucks and cars. Currently have a electric drift car, nitro drift car and a electric brushless truck.


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Anthony, you need to be in the okanagan with all those fruit trees! No, wait, the citrus won't handle the winter. Could you please grow a mango tree next? My husband has always wanted one but they don't have a chance up here!


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## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Shift, kite-surfing? I didn't know that! My husband bought a set-up and keeps meaning to try it. Could you teach him? ha ha! He's a whiz on a wakeboard but blew out his wrist and hopes kite-surfing will be kinder to it. Did you train with Diving dynamics? So did Kevin. You got a lot of hobbies! Hopefully you don't surprise any horses while riding on trails!


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## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I did my diving with a guy in Penticton. A while back. I'm still learning to kitesurfing but I can for the most part go down wind and working on going up wind (as of this spring). I can attempt to teach him next spring!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

greenfin said:


> Anthony, you need to be in the okanagan with all those fruit trees! No, wait, the citrus won't handle the winter. Could you please grow a mango tree next? My husband has always wanted one but they don't have a chance up here!


My dad started a papaya and maybe a mango tree, which are now both at my place. I brought the papaya inside, and will probably have to do the same for the mango. Several of my non-citrus fruit trees will be heading out to Aldergrove to my friend's farm to become our shared orchard (I provide the fruit trees, he grows it and we split the fruit). My kids love going to his farm to visit their chickens (I bought 2 chickens to go with his flock so Felicia and Isabella will have their "own" chickens to visit). Next autumn/late summer, we'll have more yummy reasons to visit since he'll probably end up with at least one pear tree, several stone fruit combos and perhaps a cherry combo tree.

Anthony


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## Galizio (Dec 20, 2013)

Mountain biking


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## Grete_J (Oct 5, 2010)

Photography. Even after spending around $10K in glass, I still need a few more lenses, and flashes, and a second body On top of that photo editing software isn't cheap either. It's paid off considerably in the last few years though! I still have reptiles that keep me busy spending $$, building and upgrading enclosures. Not nearly as much as camera gear tho.


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