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Geek Outdoor Hobbies?
Embedded Geek asks: "My wife and I, in an effort to get more exercise, have recently begun geocaching, which is basically global scavenger hunt using GPS. We have also been active in the Society for Creative Anachronism and my friends are always trying to draft us into paintball. While we're having a blast with all these, I wanted to see if other slashdotters could suggest more geek style, outdoor hobbies that would appeal to a pair of pasty faced nerds like us."
I like mountainbiking a lot to get some time off. I is a really fun sport, but tricky and exhausting in the beginning. You'll get a really good endurance if you practise at least a 2 times a week (for about 2 hours). Besides your flexibility will improve if you ride in more difficult terrain, but it takes a while to get used to handling a mountainbike. Equipment is rather expensive if you want to have good quality bikes, but that shouldn't be the problem if you're plaing around with GPS systems out there ;)
Life sucks.
Walking is extremely good for you and difficult to find excuses against. Bad weather? Just makes it more interesting.
Walking forces you to interact on a human level. Which is either good or bad, depending on you point of view.
It seems pretty obvious, but I think a lot of people don't realize how much fun camping really is. Before I start, let me clarify what I mean: there is camping where you bring a shitload of beer, drive to a campsite (or hike 1/4 mile to it) and proceed to get wasted. This is not camping, its partying in the forest. Try finding a local state forest that has some good hiking routes, grab a backpack, and head out for the weekend. I have gone camping with friends many times, and almost everytime there is a good tory or two to tell as a result. And BTW, do not go to one of these places where it looks like a refugee camp because of all the families camping within 15 feet of one another. Do yourself a favor and leave the laptop, palm, etc at home.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
Not really exercise, but it gets you out in the sun. And if your heart isn't racing by the end of your run, you're not doing it fast enough or hard enough.
Hmm. Laser Quest is fun - but nowhere near as fun as paintballing. Laser Quest involves being inside buildings painted all in black and shooting at people at close range with cheesy sound effects; there's no physical aspect to it at all. Sure, it's a laugh, but it's pretty much the same all the time... Paintballing is outdoors; it involves crawling around in mud a lot in my experience :-) Still, you get much, much more of an adrenaline rush hiding with a mate behind a tree/log as millions of paintballs whistle over your heads trying to get down covering fire as teammates go for their flag, etc. - or sprinting for home through the undergrowth with The Bad Guys in hot pursuit. Much more in the way of tactics, much more in the way of teamwork, much work in the way of physical exercise.
Laser Quest isn't as fun - but it's not anywhere near as expensive, either. After charging plenty for entry they hit you with huge bills for the ammunition as well. Ouch.
Oh, relaxed is the name of the game also. It is not unusual to see beer drinking and pot smoking on the course and in the parking lots, though this obviously varies a lot course to course
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Buy a decent pair of roadbikes (or a tandem) and ride as much as you can. Runner's high is an amazing thing after 5 hours in the saddle.
Actually I have found cycling to be way geeky enough. Mount a GPS on the handlebars (Garmin eTrex works great) or just a standard cycling computer and there you go. Not to mention all the stuff you can buy for a bike! widgets galore.
move along, nothing to
Check out The Degree Confluence Project
Since most of the easily accessible locations have been photographed already, getting a 'new' point on the map (one that hasn't been visited or attempted) will require a significant period of interface with a non-virtual world.
It'll even exercise your diplomatic interpersonal skills, as some of the 'attempted' sites are on reservations -- since they're a sovereign nation, they can require permits for a visit. Heck, even getting onto private land can be interesting.
- ( i.e.
- "You want to do WHAT? Yeah, right buddy! What are you really here for??? )
Fortunately, there is a form letter that you can print and take with you to convince the skeptical.( Personally, I'd love to do some of the sites in Montana. )
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
The basic nature of airsoft is quite similar to that of paintball - one team must, using a gun shooting non-lethal ammunition, either eliminate the opposing team or accomplish a pre-defined objective. The main differences of airsoft are the facts that airsoft guns shoot 6mm plastic BBs that do not leave paint marks and that the guns are extremely accurate replicas of actual firearms. Because the plastic BB is not as volatile as a paintball, airsoft guns are capable of fully-automatic fire - some at a rate of over 1200rd/min! Also, because the plastic BB is relatively light (usually 0.2g) and the muzzle velocity is usually at around 100m/sec (~300fps), they are quite safe to use in close quarters combat - paintballs tend to make very ugly welts when shot from close distance.
From a geek's point of view, the above facts introduce some very interesting elements. The realistic appearance of airsoft guns gives incredible opportunities to simulate situations in computer games and movies! Have you ever wanted to pull two H&K MP5Ks underneath a long black jacket and blast away? Or jumpdodge over a sofa, firing with two Berettas and grinning like a maniac? How about some live-action Rainbow Six? The possibilities are endless!
At least here in Turku, Finland, the local players get together every week to play short games with simple objectives, such as defending a building/hill/other location, planting/defusing a bomb or just plain capture the flag. Every summer there are some bigger games with a more complicated scenario and up to 200 players in some cases. Some games even introduce some light role-playing elements to the game for additional realism and atmosphere.
There is plenty of information about airsoft on the net, but here are a few pointers to get you started;
Ilendil's airsoft page
Arnie's Airsoft
AirsoftZone
One of the more interesting activities out there is what they call Urban Exploration. The problem a lot of people have with exercise is that its soooo boring. When you go exploring its just like walking, running and climbing but there's stuff to look at. The basic idea is exploration of urban ruins, for example: old subways, abandoned factories, and abandoned amusment parks.
:-)
Check out Infiltration Magazine for more ideas
I find, lacking all that, even office parks late at night can be fun, or pool hoping. There's a lot of exercise to be had if you're curious
Also of course check out Google's results for Urban explorations, have fun and be safe tho!