well let me see your pretty strange to want dreadlocks with mold.ky and trust me I am not being judgmental its just come on man!
well let me see your pretty strange to want dreadlocks with mold.ky and trust me I am not being judgmental its just come on man!
Sooo . . . Wak's a thru-hiker, but the dreads sectioned.
If your intent is to draw attention to yourself then go ahead. HOWEVER, you have to remember that the trail runs through rural areas and that these folks are not used to seeing dreadlocks. Now, they are used to seeing beards... Dreads unfortunately have the negative connotation of pot smoking hippie types whom most of the locals frown upon. Try to get a ride into town with dreads in rural Tennessee...hmmm The hippie or the hiker....most will pick up the hiker.
A "Real" Job? Are you serious? I am the unit coordinator for the ICU in the state's largest hospital. Is that a real job? I did cut my dreads off but I did have them for four years while working this job. I also had them while is was an insurance agent for Nationwide and I was the in the top five best producers in the state. I think it is safe to say I had a "Real" job while I had my dreads...
Actually cavemen and many Vikings and Scotsmen had dreadlocks. I have thick red hair, and if I don't comb it, it starts locking up quickly. I have natural dreadlocks, and they aren't nasty, and they look good on me. I like them, that is all that matters, screw what anyone else thinks.
Actually, the Roman military had short hair to keep people from grabbing their hair in close range fights. I was in the Army, so I have had both short hair and long hair. You are actually cooler in the summer with long hair. It holds the sweat against your scalp and allows it to evaporate, doing its job. I have hiked with long and short hair, and I was cooler by far with long hair. Also, the dreads or long hair trap air against your scalp in the winter, keeping your head warmer. I hiked for a month on the AT with shoulder length dreads, and had no problems, even showering once a week. I have never had mold grow in my dreads, either.
I was in the Navy, so I've had short hair and now I have shoulder-length hair and I don't believe that hair makes a difference with respect to heat of the summer WRT the body regulating body temp. However, just by your explanation, it doesn't make sense. Sweat will evaportate, regardless if you have hair or no hair (or any lenght in between). But if hair does trap in the sweat for any lenght of time that will PREVENT evaporation and thus heat up, making your body work harder to cool off.
In other words, sweat doesn't cool your body, it's the evaporation process that cools the body and anything that inhibits that process inhibits the cooling effect. With that said long hair (at least in my case, but I have relatively thin hair) doesn't really affect the evaporation process (in any noticeable way).
Just as long hair really doesn't help in keeping you warmer in the winter, it's all psycological.
It makes plenty of sense, if you are bald, the sweat runs off your head before it has a chance to evaporate and cool things down. Long hair does keep you warmer in the winter as well. See my explanation. I have done research on this, and it actually does make a difference. I have thicker hair, and dreads, so that may explain it better. I have noticed I am warmer in the winter, it makes sense, the hair will trap air and keep your head warmer, same principle as down in a sleeping bag.
You are never too old.
For the cooling effect to work you need that sweat to roll off and not all of it rolls off it leaves a trail of water that quickly turns to vapor and that’s what cools you. If you could maintain, say a 2mm-thick layer of water on your entire body, that water will warm up until it’s warm enough to change to vapor during this time it is acting as an insulator. Whereas a very thin film of moisture will warm up quicker, thus evaporating quicker providing that cool feel. You don’t feel cold in a pool, but as soon as you get out, that same water (just less of it – and MOST of that rolls off) evaporates quickly and feels cold.
Yes, thicker hair is a factor in how warmer you may feel in the cold; I’m not saying that long hair will NOT affect your body temp in an absolute way. I’m saying it won’t be a large factor (discounting the psychological factors). Long hair will not prevent hypothermia, best get a hat for that and then some…
I’m not arguing against dreadlocks; when all’s said in done it doesn’t matter much if you hike bald or with dreadlocks – it’s a personal preference. I’m only talking basic physics in my last two posts and physics doesn’t care about our preferences.
Miracles; they are by nature unbelievable so the mind must rationalize them or justify God is real.
Its amazing that people that dont want or like dreads talk trash. If you dont want em, you dont have to have em. Not all people with dreads are dirty. Thats the biggest stereotype. I understand expressing your opinion but you aint gotta be jerks about it. This is the 21st century and its a diverse society. Live with it!
Jester,
Wak's dreads started in CT. She wants them again and will probably get them. I may also do the same as I wait another year to get more length, then Ill let em start.
Last edited by Mags; 09-07-2009 at 17:18.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
If you've got enough hair, wear it however you like. Most critics on here are just jealous. I wish I still had some hair to braid.
Dreads would be Sea Island sand gnat nirvana.
https://gashpo.org/content/displayco...xtDocument=619
My dreads allow me to hike big mile days and longer sections between resupply.