Here at HobbyKnowHow, we have put our minds to curating a great list of 21 hobbies for men over sixty!
You have a lifetime of real-world experience that can be plowed into the mastery of a hobby and if you choose a group activity, lots to share with your fellow participants.
Pursuing a hobby successfully will require the investment of time and resources but the rewards are satisfying.
A new pastime can be an outlet for productivity and building confidence as the pace of life changes.
With these great hobbies that fit in with your lifestyle, there is no need for a mid-life crisis!
Getting older is no longer about retreating from a fast-paced lifestyle. Men like you have never been so active, and more and more seniors are waking up to the broad scope of what can be achieved in their retirement years.
With these 21 hobbies, you can throw caution to the wind and enjoy new experiences that will enrich your life.
Staying active, social, and engaged through pursuing hobbies like these are a great investment in long-term physical and mental health too.
1. Boatbuilding
You may have always dreamed of living the boating lifestyle, and by building your own boat you can make that dream a reality. Turn heads at the marina with a custom build or lovingly restored classic vessel, which is painted and polished to perfection!
Building a seaworthy vessel is not a minor undertaking and for many amateur boat builders, the costs are far more than a new vessel of equivalent class.
This is a labor of love and whether you build wooden, composite, or fiberglass watercraft, the sense of achievement when you hit the water is amazing!
Traditional boatbuilding and the associated heritage crafts like lofting, yacht joinery, and oar making, require time and focus to pursue properly.
As an older man, you will have the time available to give a 15 or 40 week build the time and attention it needs. However, the TLC you give your build will likely absorb the majority of your time.
3. Historical Reenactments
History buffs can not only re-live the atmosphere and drama of past historical events but also put on a great demonstration to teach and inspire children and young people about history.
The Texas Buffalo Soldiers are an outstanding example of how reenactment groups bring the past to life:
You will look the part with old-fashioned military uniforms, regal robes, or period costumes. There are so many organizations that would welcome the contribution of your time as a volunteer.
Learn more by contacting reenactment organizations like the Living History Association.
3. Open Mic Poetry Slams
If you have done a limited amount of public speaking in your life, exercising your lyrical skills in a poetry slam will take you straight outta your comfort zone. But for the literary-minded, open mic sessions will provide a great creative outlet where you can meet a new and diverse range of people.
Check out the Poetry Foundation to get an idea of how it all works.
Journal and document your poetry and practice delivery in front of the mirror or with some basic audio equipment. You may build up a head of steam on a self-published anthology or recording.
In addition to the great sense of achievement when you finish your delivery, you can enjoy a great atmosphere that is perfect for date nights too…
4. Carriage Driving
If you love equestrianism but are looking for an easier pace than regular hacking, carriage driving could be for you.
Masterfully steering one or two horses across a range of terrain and obstacles as part of a three-phase combined driving event is an authentic challenge and if you compete with a navigator, you will enjoy solid teamwork and friendship.
5. Vlogging
You can pretty much run your TV network from the comfort of your living room by starting a video log or vlog. Share your passions, however obscure or mundane, just like YouTuber Tim Marks and his wife who have a great channel all about John Deere sub-compact tractors:
You can create videos about just about anything and with YouTube garnering over 8 billion monthly users, you can be sure that someone is looking for vlogs you are going to make.
6. Tough Mudder
If you consider yourself a bit of an Arnie or Stallone, you can put yourself to the ultimate test by taking on one of the world’s harshest endurance events. This renowned obstacle course race takes place all over the world and has been fiendishly designed to push you to your limits.
Think leaping from heights, plunging into ice water, and of course wading through deep, thick mud.
Men and women in their seventies and eighties have finished the Tough Mudder, earning serious kudos from the grandkids.
This type of ordeal is not for everybody but with the right training and a big dose of grit we’re sure you’ll get through.
7. Stonemasonry
If you have spent many years working the 9 to 5 behind a desk, learning stone masonry can provide the opportunity to develop real craftsmanship.
It is an ancient trade, and though many stonemasons work with power tools, you may relish the challenge of using basic hand tools like mallets and chisels to ornately dress stones.
Having stone-craft skills to hand can also equip you for bigger construction or restoration projects you want to take on.
This hobby is both physically and mentally demanding and shaping and building with stone requires real patience.
8. Guitar Building
Building your own acoustic or electric guitar is a great goal. You may have always wanted to own a legendary Fender Stratocaster, but you can go one better by crafting your perfect set of strings!
Like boat building, making your guitar requires real devotion of time and study to make a success of your build.
You won’t be starting this journey alone as there are thousands of self-build guitar enthusiasts across the world who you can interact with on courses or forums like Project Guitar.
9. Lego
This is certainly a hobby that will keep you popular with the grandchildren! Speak to any adult Lego enthusiast and you will find that this pastime is anything but idle play.
Not only are there complex adult Lego kits that recreate architectural landmarks and mechanical objects, but there is also the lucrative trade in rare pieces and kits that change hands for thousands of dollars:
Just make sure that those pieces don’t end up in the vacuum cleaner!
10. Storm Chasing
Lovers of the great outdoors can get up close to the power of nature by taking up this intriguing pursuit of dramatic weather phenomena like storms and tornadoes!
This recreation ties in with other hobbies like photography and amateur radio and often involves communication with fellow storm chasers to stay safe.
Tracking the weather will get you outside and potentially clocking up hundreds of miles at a time while you pursue striking skyscapes.
You may also find yourself idling for hours as you wait for something to happen.
11. Pickling and Fermenting
As the 19th century, French lawyer Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said, “you are what you eat” and if you are starting to give your dietary choices some thought, you may enjoy a food-related hobby with some great health benefits.
Lacto-fermentation is a tasty and nutritious method for preserving a variety of foods. It uses naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts to breakdown carbohydrates in the preserved food, yielding fermented foodstuffs that have great digestive benefits.
Once you have acquired the right equipment for fermenting foods it’s just a matter of what you want to try. Popular dishes include sauerkraut, pickles, olives, and sourdough.
12. Keeping Chickens
Keeping some backyard hens is a great hobby that will definitely keep you on your toes. Plus, your own farm-fresh eggs are a delicious reward.
You can purchase and raise day-old chicks or purchase point-of-lay or rescued hens.
13. Canal Boating
You will never want to leave the scenic American waterways you can navigate with ease in your own canal boat or barge.
These flat-bottomed boats used to be the workhorses of trade and industry, but have gained a new lease of life as vessels for recreational boating.
Canal boats are spacious and are designed for easy handling on relatively shallow canals. You will enjoy navigating some well-known American canal systems like the New York State Canal System. Also, the American Canal Society has lots of advice and information on the nation’s historic canals.
Some people love this pastime so much that it becomes a way of life, with the barge used as a long-term floating home.
14. Outdoor Kitchens
You may be old enough to have had grandparents or relatives who may have enjoyed outdoor kitchens as a family tradition.
Cooking over an open fire certainly taps into the “Pioneer” spirit and can really make an event of evening meals through the spring or summer.
You can set up a makeshift kitchen in your backyard, complete with Billy cans, metal cooking plates, tripods, stovetop kettles, and Dutch ovens for creating just about anything you want!
15. Soap Making
Preppers who enjoy pastimes that keep them self-sufficient will enjoy being able to make their own soap.
If floral fragrances and fancy colors are not your thing, you can become adept at crafting rugged charcoal soap, salt sink bars, or rich shampoo bars for your hair and beard.
Learn all about soap making as a hobby here in our complete guide to soap making.
16. Blacksmithing
Blacksmithing is a pastime that involves working with iron or steel that is heated and hammered and worked into desirable shapes. As an amateur smith, you can make items like fireplace tools.
It is an old craft that used to be extremely common before the industrial revolution but is now only sustained by a decreasing number of blacksmiths.
It is possible to learn the skills needed by being trained by a local blacksmith or attending a course in your region. Organizations like the Artist-Blacksmith Association of North America are helpful for training and setting yourself up in business if you take this hobby that far.
You may want to spend time at a forge or if you are extremely enthusiastic and have the right property zoning, you may be able to set up your own forge, complete with an anvil.
This hobby does have high costs due to the fuel required to heat your metal.
17. Scrimshaw
Scrimshaw is a traditional American craft that involves carving or engraving intricate designs and images on bone or ivory. You may have encountered these curios in museums or historical dramas on TV.
Prohibition on the sale of ivory and bone has not dampened the demand for collectible Scrimshaw pieces.
Your hobby may involve curating a collection of antique Scrimshaw or using a synthetic material like micarta to have a go yourself!
Creating scrimshaw is a challenging multistage process that involves stippling and scratching the hard surface to create your design. The etched image is then filled with Indian ink to make it visible.
If you love paying attention to detail this old-fashioned pastime could be right up your street.
18. Hobby Creel
Who doesn’t enjoy a plate of steaming lobster lemon and butter? If you enjoy this rich cuisine in quantity, you can work for it by catching lobsters and crawfish yourself.
You can build or purchase your own creel and work inshore to catch your lobsters. Some hobbyists work along the shoreline and others use a kayak or small boat to retrieve the creels.
As an unlicensed fisherman, you need to ensure that you don’t run foul of local laws and exceed any quotas in place.
19. Yodeling
If you have spent decades of your life being mild-mannered, now is the time to make some noise! Yodeling is a rich tradition that is found in many countries and cultures and you don’t need a lungful of Alpine air to do it.
Yodeling is an excellent vocal coaching exercise that is great for your breathing and will increase your vocal agility and range.
Get started by taking The Yodel Course, a world-famous Alpine yodeling course run by Norm, the Yodelologist!
21. Decoy Making
Huntsmen may enjoy the challenge of crafting their own wooden duck decoys.
Think you know better than your local waterfowl?
Kick out the Texas trash bag and carve and paint fantastic decoys that will keep you in duck breasts all season!
21. Sausage Making
Foodies can enjoy creating delicious fresh sausage for the dinner table. Select great cuts of meat, grind, and season them to perfection.
To get the best results you will need a powerful stainless steel meat grinder.
Get an idea of the basic technique by watching this video on making Italian sausage:
We’re sure you’re intrigued by the sheer range of hobbies you can do!
Be inspired to get out there and give some of them a go. Don’t get stuck in the rut of familiarity, leave your comfort zone, and try something new!
The best thing about hobbies is that you do not need to commit yourself long-term but can devote more time and funds as your interest develops.
Before long, you are likely to find yourself with a packed schedule. You never know, you may have to turn down that Saturday morning round of golf…
