3 inches start / 15 inches start (natural way) – differences?

Irie my knotted friends. Good vibes.

So... I'm gonna go natural way... And some questions come in mind...

I'd like to know what exact differences would be between doing things in a two different ways:

1. Stop combing now (with hair 3 inches long)
2. Letting it grow 15 inches and then stop combing

As I said already I got this whole spiritual thing behind my wish to start the journey so patience is not a problem. I've read a lot around on this forum since I registered and if I got something out of it that is – patience shapes dreadlocks. (And "wax sucks" of course haha)
As much as it's for spiritual reasons I would like them to be good, healthy and nice looking. That's why I'm also ready and willing to wait no matter how long it takes.


So how would journey be like in the first example, how in the second? Why?
What way would you recommend? Why?
What are exact reasons I should stop combing now, and what are the reasons I should wait for it to be 15 inches long. (We're not talking about "between" options (6 inches and then stop or so))

What difference would it make in locking process? Think of every possible thing in one situation and then in other.
Pro and cons.

I think it's kind of interesting to see things this way..
And of course it will help me to decide which way to go. Well, I do need help of course.


Looking forward to good discussion.


Big up!
Love and Inity.

 

stop combing now. Then when it does reach 15 inches, voila! dreads!

 

Hehe, well, naturally -- I know it's gonna dread eventually.
But how about other questions? I'm interested to know details..

Guys I know it looks kinda long to read so some of you probably just click "back" in your browsers when you see it, but it doesn't take that long actually.. It's like 3 mins. I just did timing..

Bless up!

 

I think that if it is a strong spiritual process for you than why wait? Start the journey now my friend! Granted with 3 inch hair you probablly wont see any progress till its about 15 inches, but as turnip said once it is 15 inches it'll be knotted glory! Jah bless.

 

at what length does hair start to knot up?
my hair is around 4.5 inches with nothing lol

 

long hair tends to knot faster, but can be a little more stressful (if you're prone to stress) in the early stages because there is more hair to deal with, more hair to look after, more hair to worry about not forming "right"

if you start with 3 inches, it will take less time to see locks (factoring in the years you will have to wait for 15 inches), but more time since conception (err, after you stop combing) but the best thing about this is that you get into a routine early and you wont have to maintain long hair for locks to form. locks will just form on your head and you wont have to worry about anything.

you also have to think about shrinking and how you will look different. when your hair locks, it shrinks. it shrinks about half the length of your hair in total. if you start now you wont see such a dramatic difference in shrinking, but you will see a huge difference if you start long.

so there really is no better time to start, just preference. you might want to wait till its long since you haven't had long hair before, but you might want to start now so it wont be a hassle. either way is going to take patience, with both people and yourself.

 

If you've never seen your hair longer than what it is now I would let it continue to grow without dreading just to get to know it and yourself.

 

the main difference btw backcombing and patience method is that with backcombing, you decide where the dreads are going to be, how thick, uniform, etc.
if i were to start again i would use nothing but patience, because i like to let my hair do what it wants, and i think patience dreads are beautiful, even in the beginning stages. if you let your hair do its own thing, youll notice some pretty awesome and random formations.
time is the ultimate leveler when it comes to dreads. given enough time, its hard to tell what method a person used. so the only differences lie in the journey of the first few years.
dont get me wrong, i love my dreads and even though i started with backcombing, they have a lot of character and variation and its a joy watching them grow and mature. if you backcomb and skip on the maintenance, you will probably still have very unique looking locks.
also, if you do patience, you can have some control over the size and placement through ripping if you choose.
with hair your length, you might as well start neglecting it now since its too short to backcomb. once you start seeing knots, you can decide if you like whats happening, and if not, break out a comb
good luck!

 

i dont really care for how my hair looks long so i stopped combing a long time ago
but i'm curious at what length hair starts to knot, has anyone started the neglect method with very short hair?

 

it would depend on how curly the hair is. i would say in between tight curls and wavy hair, whatever curls are big, loopy and loose so they can cross into each other often and deep would lock earliest.

 

oh, thanks :]
my hair is pretty wavy/straight