Haircuts

[SGT Rock]

This is something I've started wondering about. After 17 years of living in the military I cannot stand my hair getting longer than about 1/4". I always see the photos of the long hair thru-hiker and cringe at the thought of my hair feeling like that - not that I have a problem with anyone wearing long hair, I just hate the fealing of too much hair on my head.

On section hikes it isn't abig deal because I can get a haircut when I leave the trail, but I'm beggingin to wonder about a thru-hike. For the thru hikers that like to keep short hair (if any) how did you do it? What is your plan?

[Hammock Hanger]

I actually have long hair and didn't have to think about it much. However, there are plenty of barber shops along the way. WF cut my friend's hair in Hot SPrings. -- Will you shave every mornng as well??
Now that takes time and you have carry that HEAVY razor.

I'm female and did not shave on the trail... I was hoping I could start a new trean and have corn rows on my legs. HH

[Footslogger]

Decided this year to stash a lightweight electric clipper in my bounce box. I'm starting off with a pretty close cut and about every 3 weeks or so I'll pick up the box and give myself a "touch-up" when I overnight in a town or hostel.

[chief]

usually in towns, i buy a disposible razor and shaving cream or something and shave my head slick. no problems with hair!

[gravityman]

I cut my hair to the almost bald point when I started. Didn't touch it until just before the Shanadoahs when my wife finally told me she really didn't like the beard at all, and that if, well... you can guess the rest...
I bought electric clippers at Waynesboro (sp) to shave and cut my hair. I couldn't believe how much the salon I walked by wanted to do it. For $15 I got the clippers, and it was all gone in a 1/2 hour.

Things were much better after that...

Put it in the bounce box, and plan on using it for the next one.

Gravity Man

[SkyKing]

I'm like you Sarge. I keep my hair VERY short. Course Mother Nature blessed me with very little to start. I was also wondering what to do on my thru. I thought....just let it grow (beard also) and chalk it up to the experence, but I'm not sure I could stand that. I have electric clippers I use on my hair and small battery clippers I use on my neck (that Don Johnson look). I cut my beard with sissors..several times a day. I figured if-n I didn't want to return to my hippie days I'd put them in my bounce box and get a fellow hiker to cut it for me every week or so.

[brown bess]

i'm kinda surprised they don't have clippers at some of the hostels....a set at walmart, etc. is about the same price as one haircut--here anyway. might make a nice donation to a worthy place you stay if you don't want to mess with sending it ahead in a bounce box.

brown bess

[Team GAK]

If you can get into a town early enough you'll have pleanty of time to eat, get your maildrop, eat, do laundry, eat, shop, eat, get a haircut, eat and get out of town. I got a haircut (just long enough to comb) about once a month and I also shaved on the trail every 3 to 4 days.

[Mini-Mosey]

I like HH's idea of corn rows on the legs.......

[MadAussieInLondon]

i get a number 1 every two/three weeks... when i hike in 04 i just plan on getting it number 1'd when i get to a town. ifi dont, i dont..

[yogi clyde]

One of the advantages of being bald.
Of course I do use more sun screen.

Actually, I plan to have a clipper and razor in my bounce box, so I
can close crop the sides.

[Virginian]

I just stopped in town and got it cut. Not a problem. See Hazel in Hotsprings. She cut my hair for $3.00 at her house. Shes about 74 and it took her about an hour. She also paints pictures. She as sweet as they come.

[fwassner]

I will probably carry a disposable (no shaving cream, for LNT) and just use water every day. Haircuts shouldn't be a problem in town, but I might let it grow a bit too... who knows what I'll feel like after a month or so on the trail.

[alpine]

with drawn

[icemanat95]

While I typically keep all my knives shaving sharp, they are definitely not the tool of choice. I have shaved with a combat knife just to prove it could be done, but I also cut myself a few times in the process. A bic disposable is good for maybe half a dozen good shaves and weighs little. I used soap for shaving cream and shaved my face in the shower. I had my head buzzed every month or so.

[Jaybird]

Sgt.Rock:


[QUOTE=yogi clyde]One of the advantages of being bald.




I'm in the same boat as Yogi Clyde... ....so, i decided, when i started my section-hikes in 2002....to "buzz it" to 1/4 inch.


liked it soooooooooooo much....i've kept it for the last 2 years now.



jaybird
www.trailjournals.com/Jaybird

[johnny quest]

im too dyed in the wool u.s. marine to let my hair grow. like some of you had said, i dont mind it on others but dont want it on me. it is so much easier to stay clean if you keep it short. i carry one of those little yelllow razors from campmor that screws down into itself. the same soap i use for everything else is good enough for shaving. i will probably put an electric razor in my bounce box

[superman]

When I enlisted in "65" I'd just gotten my DA perfectly trained. I actually said to the barber that I just wanted a trim as he cut a reverse mohawk. He said "oops, maybe I should give you one like all the other guys." Short hair has been the norm for me ever since. I started the AT with a high and tight. The only barber that I found on the AT that knows what a high and tight is in Damascus. He was in the 11th Cav in Vietnam. I tried to get high an tights in other towns but they were soooo bad I got them zipped off. Disposable razers are cheap. Just shave when you get to town. If you use a bounce box you can throw the extra disposable razors in it or not. It's no thing. The only one you have to satisfy is yourself.
http://groups.msn.com/OldGUYthenandnow

[Pencil Pusher]

Growing hair longer than a quarter of an inch: the horror, the horror. Do what every white man in the south does when he wants to grow long hair, be a mullet man I suspect the Mrs will have more influence on your long hair dilemma than any of us here.

[Heater]

This is something I've started wondering about. After 17 years of living in the military I cannot stand my hair getting longer than about 1/4". I always see the photos of the long hair thru-hiker and cringe at the thought of my hair feeling like that - not that I have a problem with anyone wearing long hair, I just hate the fealing of too much hair on my head.

On section hikes it isn't abig deal because I can get a haircut when I leave the trail, but I'm beggingin to wonder about a thru-hike. For the thru hikers that like to keep short hair (if any) how did you do it? What is your plan?

My hair is very thick. Used to be, it either had to be less than an inch long or long enough to tie back. Anything in between turned my head into the green house effect. (trapped the moisture and heat in) More like a scalp sauna.

Nowadays, There is just too much grey in there for it to look good long and tied back.

Besides that... I don't want to be mistaken for that freak-a-zoid university professor that we have all been seeing on the news lately!