backcombed dreads didn't stay in at all. they would completely unravel after just a couple washes. i took the twist and rip method and i'm extremely happy with the results as of one month.
updated by @ivan: 07/22/15 07:59:24AM
backcombing vs. twist and rip
I tnr-ed my hair and they pretty much all unraveled.... do what you feel most comfortable doing. It's your hair, after all!The back of my head is dreading up like a champ, but the sides are basically normal hair still. either method, expect some unraveling and just go with the flow. good luck!
Backcombing didn't hold for me.I figured out that with some practice, T&R doesn't really show later on. When I started, the T&R looked like braids. I went back and redid a couple, and there's no sign of my efforts. T&R is a skill, and like any skill, it's not going to come out perfect the first time. Practice is the answer.
very true. practice on some that won't be very visible (like the back towards the bottom) and soon you'll get used to it and good at it as well. Ryan Emmel said:
Backcombing didn't hold for me.
I figured out that with some practice, T&R doesn't really show later on. When I started, the T&R looked like braids. I went back and redid a couple, and there's no sign of my efforts. T&R is a skill, and like any skill, it's not going to come out perfect the first time. Practice is the answer.
The whole "braided" look is the problem I've always had with tnr. Yes, tnr lays better and seems to hold a bit better, but backcombing looks more 'dreaded' I think. You have a lot more loops which makes them look very fuzzy but I think I prefer them to tnr. Esp if you want thicker. Something I noticed at my last attempt was tying them criss-cross (see my pics) with hemp helps to reduce unraveling, but you can't keep them in for a long time/through multiple washes if you don't want them to get tied into your dreads. But it's totally up to you. I've seen gorgeous locks come from both methods.
I personally used TnR and had some fall out. So I decided to re do some and just leave some to go natural and it's been just over four months now and if I had to do it over I would definately go natural. The natural ones took a bit longer to"look" like something was happening, but once it did it looked so much better than the TnR ones (in my oppinion), less loose hair, and no real loops. Not that loops are bad l just like the couple of neat natural ones that popped up among the TnR ones. So really I guess I'm saying natural would be my first choice but whichever method you choose, if they do fall out, dont re do them koz it slows them down a lot! Good luck 
my hair is thin, so i mostly used the tnr method. i did go back and backcomb to get them tighter, which helps a little... but since my hair is so fine, it didn't care what method i used. i've had two or three dreads unravel themselves. but now, since my dreads are pretty much formed, i'm going to just neglect them. i'm 7 weeks tomorrow (saturday).
LOTS of loose hair.
just to clarify... i didn't back comb all of them.... just like 4.
Jill Martin said:
my hair is thin, so i mostly used the tnr method. i did go back and backcomb to get them tighter, which helps a little...
Backcombed dreads look like shit after a decent amount of time, as they will be pretty uniform and even at the end, then the bit near the root will dread naturally and be all loopy/bumpy. I might suggest backcombing a bit near the top to help it section (if you're really set on it) then letting it lock up naturally, maybe a bit of TnR here and there to help speed it up if you feel its not going fast enough/you want to see some progress. If you TnR 1 dread every other day then eventually you will have a pretty much full head of dreads that will look pretty damn good (hopefully) as time goes on, none of the initial 'Sideshow Bob' and the eventual 50% natural, 50% really fat, round and uniform (lengthwise that is).
