THE Cub Report, Version- Lessons I Have Learned…
At a bash over the weekend, I witnessed something peculiar. I’ve been in the hobby since the Earth cooled, but I had never seen this before. A youngster drove his Vaterra Ascender over to my pit area, sat his transmitter down, then walked away to meet up with his Dad. 45 minutes later, he came back over, picked up his transmitter, then went back to bashing. Nothing too crazy right? Well, nothing other than the fact that is was raining the entire time, and both the truck and transmitter got completely soaked (and yes, both seemed to work fine afterwards!!!).
After seeing that, I had to wonder if the designers on the Ascender RTR project thought about kids like that. Kids who are outside having a great time playing with their truck, but don’t know, or care, that just leaving a truck and transmitter sitting out in the rain probably isn’t a good idea. Ya sure, lots of trucks are “waterproof” now days, but leaving a transmitter, any transmitter, sitting out in the rain still freaks me out. I am old school, ingrained into my brain is the thought of Always avoiding water holes, heavy dew on the grass, and to avoid driving in the rain at all costs.
I went to a bash last weekend to get my bash on, but I also went to gather intel on the mysterious “average user”. I have been so hardcore into the hobby for so many years that I still can’t wrap my head around what a true “average user” is. Too many years of only talking to industry types or people at the track have left my head only thinking the hobby could be one way, not the way that it truly is. In my mind it is normal for a person to spend 5 hours a day driving or wrenching on an rc, when that certainly is not the case. In fact a casual “average user” might only rc 5 hours a month.
And actually, the person most responsible for helping me wrap my head around what “bashers” are is Brian here at BSRC. Early on in my days at BigSquidRC he was truly a guiding light to get past my years of not knowing what the vast majority of rc users are like. He came from a more casual approach to the hobby, one where he had fun driving, but didn’t devote his entire life to it. He didn’t worry if his diff was adjusted a little bit too tight, or if one shock was weeping oil. He also spent a lot more time than I did out in parking lots, at skate parks, and at local parks, meeting true bashers/users. Brian taught me that most rc’ers don’t even own a transponder, nor ever want to.
To help the hobby grow we not only need to understand each other better, but need know that they way we like the hobby isn’t the same for everyone. Each individual user is completely different, yet can have a whole lot in common with many others. And yes, some users have no problem leaving their gear out in rainstorm, while others still wince at just the thought.
But I still think the most personally valuable thing I’ve learned since joining the Big Squid crew has been that doing the hobby casually is much more fun than doing it hardcore. I used to think that 14 hours at the track was a great time, now I know that I enjoy 4 hours at the track and 10 with my family much more. When I surrounded myself with people who also thought 14 hours at the track was a good idea, it seemed like a good idea to me too. Now that I am around people who can enjoy rc plus a real life, I’ve learned that I am truly enjoying the hobby much more than I ever did before. And the more I enjoy the hobby, the longer I am going to stay in it, and the more rc stuff I am going to buy.
That’s it for this edition of THE Cub Report, have a great week out bashing and get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.
YOUR Cub Reporter
