What is Hashing?
What is Hashing?
By Oedipussy (formerly Just Neutered)
A seemingly innocent question asked by many an inquisitive and potential hashing halfwit… and the most common halfbaked response?
“We’re a drinking club with a running problem.”
So true, yet still lacking in so many ways. As with other things, the answer really depends on your point of view. So here are several ways to look at this crazy little thing we call hashing.
A game
Hashing is based on an old-english schoolboys paper-chase game, but with an added twist… BEER! (More on that later.) Primarily, it is a game with two different styles: live hare or dead hare. In live hare hashing (most RSH3 hashes are live hare), the hash plays out like this: One or more people volunteers to be a hare (i.e. the person who will be chased), hash announcements are posted (like on this site), and all interested parties gather at the time and place the hare chooses. On the day of the hash, the pack of hounds (i.e. the people who will do the chasing) give the hare a chance to get away (usually 10 minutes), before setting out in pursuit and hopefully eventual capture. Instead of following their noses, the pack will follow a trail of hash, which usually consists of flour, chalk, and toilet paper, left by the hare… the hash will be used to create various marks (which are gone over before the hare leaves) which tell the pack different things about where the hare has gone. These marks have names which include:
- checks
- female checks
- beer nears
- hare arrows, etc.
The trail will consist of the traditional things you might encounter on a trail like hills, woods, and streams, but it might also consist of less traditional things like the local country club golf course, mall promenade, or airport tarmac. And of course all of the trail may contain an abundance of shiggy [read: stuff which will slow you down.] In dead hare hashing, also known as a dead lay (for you necrophiliacs out there), the big difference is the trail is pre-laid at an earlier time. The object is not to catch the hare but to solve the trail and reach the end. Because the hare has the luxury of time, dead-lay trails can be more complex, and should have more marks designed to keep the pack together. This is part of the point since the person who laid the trail should be tagging along to enjoy watching everyone trying to solve it. Though purists argue a dead lay is for wimps [read: someone afraid of getting caught], both types have their advantages & disadvantages. In either style of hashing, whenever a hasher spots what they believe is true trail they shout, “On-on!” to tell the pack, “Follow me, I’m on trail!” However follow at your own risk. Many a hasher has been laid astray by false cries of “On-on!” Eventually, the pack will complete the trail and arrive at the On-In. At the On-In, the pack circles up to discuss the day’s trail and award down-downs [read: chug-a-lug of your choice of beverage, traditionally beer] to pack members for various honors or infractions the pack thinks they’ve earned… think of a down-down as kind of a hasher rite-of-passage. After circle is over, the pack often plans to reconvene at a local pub, restaurant, or party, called the On-After for a little more refreshment, fun, and socializing.
Not a race
Hashing is not a race. Being competitive with others (or being ’race-ist’ as it is known in hashing circles) is generally frowned upon, and will get you rewarded with down-downs. See What should I expect at an RSH3 Hash Run?.
If ‘race-ism’ is your desire, please check the Huntsville Track Club schedule for upcomming ‘race-ist’ events, and get it out of your system before attending our hash.
A world-wide phenomenon
Hash clubs are all over the world all over the world. Most major cities are home to one or more hashes, and each hash differs in its traditions, style of trails (live or dead), trail marks, etc. However they all have the common goal of having fun and hopefully getting a little exercise at the same time. Traveling to other hashes is encouraged, and there will always be something new because of the inherent craziness of hashing.
An old idea
The concept of hashing is generally credited to a guy affectionately known as ‘G’ (for Gispert) who along with some of his ex-pat buddies in Kuala Lumpur came up with the idea and started the world’s first hash, KLH3, aka the Mother Hash, in 1938. “To work up a thirst and statisfy it in beer” is part of the original hash charter, which nearly all hashes follow to this day. More than “A Drinking Club w/ a Running Problem.”
There are basically no limits to where the trail may take you, and that’s part of the thrill and appeal of hashing, and is part of what keep hashers coming back. The number one rule of hashing is “there are no rules!” Hashers are quasi-rebels… the hash is open to everybody regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or planet of origin. All that’s required is a good attitude, sense of humor, and the desire to have fun.