Thanks fidelis. I’ve been reading on this for most of my life, and I’ve never, ever seen the Sea Peoples equated with the Hyksos, much less widely so. The Hyksos have never been equated with the Greeks, either. There have been many attempts to equate the Hyksos with the Jews. The Sea Peoples have been equated with various unattested groups from Sardinia and elsewhere; some have tried to equate the Sea Peoples with Mycenaean Greeks.
SunkenCiv- You are correct. I was getting my groups mixed up. :)
I am wondering if the Sea People could have been refugees from Crete after their sea power was destroyed by a tsunami from Santorini, and Mycenaean Greeks started to invade. While apparently a relatively peaceful trading people, it is possible that the surviving Crete population became much more aggressive after the times of trouble from the big eruption. The level of civilization/success of the subsequent Sea People settlements suggests a civilized history somewhere. I suspect the Hyksos were primarily Libyans, with other wandering groups intermingled.