I am a guy with dark blonde/light brown straight hair. My hair is a few inches past my shoulders, and I want to grow it twice as long, I have also been thinking about dreadlocks. I would use the backcombing method, but I am not sure if I want thick or thin dreads. What would be the pros and cons of each?
let it decide
go nayural and let the hair decide what size it wants to be
conbs of thick dry slower hardsr to keep clean (of very thick) cons of thin too many dreads to keep track of weak when very long
pros of a mix of thin and thick blend nicely into a full mane dont look so manufactured and ridgidly controlled
btw twist and rips a better method then backcomb backcomb tends ti fall apart more then tnr and looks silly early on and is more damaging
u cant go wrong if u let your hair section itself as it sees fit
I think thicker dreads look better on guys, but not obnoxiously thick because as Knottysleeves said, they can be pretty heavy.
If you decide to section and backcomb, I would go with 1.5-2 inch sections. My dreads were 1 inch sections, you can see on my page how thick they are and judge from there if you want. 
In any case, all dreads look awesome so no matter what you decide, most people in this community will like them anyway! Just remember that when your dreads mature completely, they'll be about the same size as your base.
ummm thats a really hard question to answer, but for me personally the thicker, not necessarily overly the top thick, but thick nonetheless dreads have a more natural look to them. It seems really common for black people to have thin dreads. The thin ones at least the way they do them end up looking fake and too well manicured. Plus the fact that a salon does it takes I think most of the beauty out of having dreads in the first place.
how would the thicker ones result in a heavier head of locks? Thick or thin the same amount of hair would still be present.
Knottysleeves said:
Thicker ones can be heavy, especially once they start to mature. I feel that medium to thin ones give you more flexibility in styling, show less scalp, and knot up a little quicker. But that will all depend on what your hair decides to do, and that's impossible to predict.
Backcombing is a great way to start. Just do it gently... don't yank or pull at your scalp and you'll be fine. Let the comb do most of the work for you. Use a pet comb (the metal kind that has 2 rows of teeth) because it's stronger and forms tangles easier than regular combs.
Keep in mind you're going to lose some length no matter what starting method you use.
I say go with a mix, I have blonde/brown hair as well and I have some thin ones (pencil size) and ones that are a little thicker. I used TnR but you got to make sure you got them nice and tight-ish. Not so Tight they hurt and not so loose that they just come out from swinging your hair.
If you go with Backcombing, I say listen to Knottysleeve. Her dreads are nice and she used backcombing.
One love bra, and have fun if you decided to dread
That is so true particularly if you watch NFL see how many black players have those pencil thin dreads/twists its insane. Dont know why that is either cause thicker dreads i think do look better on men.No personalityin their haircause it all looks the exact same.
Daveovthedead said:
ummm thats a really hard question to answer, but for me personally the thicker, not necessarily overly the top thick, but thick nonetheless dreads have a more natural look to them. It seems really common for black people to have thin dreads. The thin ones at least the way they do them end up looking fake and too well manicured. Plus the fact that a salon does it takes I think most of the beauty out of having dreads in the first place.
Yea it's pretty lame. thats why I always hate it when people say dreads a re a black thing. I barely consider what black people have as dreads. They might as well have a weave
Thundersquall said:
That is so true particularly if you watch NFL see how many black players have those pencil thin dreads/twists its insane. Dont know why that is either cause thicker dreads i think do look better on men.No personalityin their haircause it all looks the exact same.
Daveovthedead said:ummm thats a really hard question to answer, but for me personally the thicker, not necessarily overly the top thick, but thick nonetheless dreads have a more natural look to them. It seems really common for black people to have thin dreads. The thin ones at least the way they do them end up looking fake and too well manicured. Plus the fact that a salon does it takes I think most of the beauty out of having dreads in the first place.
Wow these are pretty rude statements in my opinion. Locks on African Americans are sometimes a different thing then dreads on a white person. They have different purposes and different meanings. Most African Americans can't go natural, it's the nature of their hair type. These are just ignorant statements.
As for this thread though... I say thick 
Daveovthedead said:
Yea it's pretty lame. thats why I always hate it when people say dreads a re a black thing. I barely consider what black people have as dreads. They might as well have a weave
Thundersquall said:That is so true particularly if you watch NFL see how many black players have those pencil thin dreads/twists its insane. Dont know why that is either cause thicker dreads i think do look better on men.No personalityin their haircause it all looks the exact same.
Daveovthedead said:ummm thats a really hard question to answer, but for me personally the thicker, not necessarily overly the top thick, but thick nonetheless dreads have a more natural look to them. It seems really common for black people to have thin dreads. The thin ones at least the way they do them end up looking fake and too well manicured. Plus the fact that a salon does it takes I think most of the beauty out of having dreads in the first place.
Nah they're not really ignorant statements. Surely there are some exceptions, but for the most part what I see are salon dreads. And I know their hair grows differently. And that difference would be that it locks easier because of teh texture. I would know: i'm half African. It's cool though. Evereyone has to be PC these days. Whats the fun in speaking an opinion that doesn't placate everyone?
