Which hobby gets you the strangest reactions?

[HardyBoy13]

Some hobbies need no explanation. Tell someone you like reading, football or gardening and they nod along. Mention that you spend weekends ringing church bells, hunting for fossils or building a model railway in the loft, and the reaction can be very different. Eyebrows go up, questions follow and occasionally someone backs away slowly

Plenty of perfectly normal hobbies still seem to puzzle people. Birdwatching, metal detecting, Warhammer, morris dancing, historical reenactment, crochet, speedcubing and geocaching all get a mixed response at parties. Then there are hobbies that are popular in one place and baffling in another. Trainspotting still gets jokes in the UK, while in some countries it is simply seen as a fun way to travel

Mine is lock sport, which is picking locks as a puzzle hobby. The moment I mention it, people assume I am a burglar in training. In fact, the community has strict rules about only picking locks you own, and most of us just enjoy the mechanical challenge. It is oddly relaxing, like a very small safe cracking puzzle

The fun of a strange hobby is the people you meet through it. Every niche seems to have its own friendly community, full of experts who are delighted that someone else shares their interest. Some of the best people I know came from mine

Which hobby gets you the strangest reactions? And how do you explain it to people who do not get it?