dread strength and dread weakness

dreadlocks should be incredibly strong , 1 member had looked up the statisticsand your whole head of dreads should support the wight of 8 full grown elephantsthats enough strength to lift a fully loaded tractor trailer trucka single dread average size say 1/2 to 3/4 inch should support several times your body weight (i think it was 6 times but not sure at the momment)dread weakness can cause dreads to not even support theyre own weight a few ounces of weight can cause them to breaka lil tug on themnow odviosly a thin dreads not as strong as a thick oneand a thick dread connected to the head by only a few hairs is only as strong as a few hairs..so how does a dread get from strong enough to pull a car to weak enough to fall off from a high pressure shower?many many things can weaken dreads to a degreew some barely others severelybackcombing does dammage and the more agressive it is the more the dammage, but unless your agressive and breaking hairs that damage wont weaken the dread in any significant way except that the damage exposes the hairs to further damage b7y rubbing rolling and poking with toolsthe only weakness backcombing causes is it makes them weak tio further damage wich causes weakness but even so in order to9 be severely weakened to the point of breaking u would have to rub and roll a lotfar more damaging and weakening are techniques like interlocking, crochet and by far the worse felting (ofcouse also dread perms wich do chemical damage and cause an overal weakening and brittleness)the maximum strength of the dread is dependent on the percentage of hairs that are unbroken scalp to tip as well as the length of hairs that are not intact from scalp to tipexample if u have a dread with 10000 hairs in it and 90% are complete from scalp to tip and the few that shed are unbroken scalp to tip (or nearly ) there will be almost no reduction in strengthbreak 1/2 of them in 1/2 and your probly going to lose 25% strengthfelting as an extreme example can turn 1 hair 2 feet long into thousands of segmants less then 1/16th inch longcrocheting th4e dreads to start if u just do it once your probably losing 75% of the strength..that sill is plenty to support yoir weight tho probly doublebut repeatted crocheting reduces that more and more till the dreads dangling by a thread(felting can cause that kinda weakness from 1 use)interlocking doesnt break the hairs into segmants to cause weakness, instead it causes a gap with tightly twisted sides these roots are under alot of strain and dont take much ti cause a snapfunny thing is the snap isnt always at the interlock point but sometimes above and below even though the interlock point becomes a weak spot it can cause damage above and below too(tie a knot in a dread and theres a very high chance it will fall off above or below the knot)other causes..stressi dont mean having a bad daybut yanking on them repeattedlynow i know a dread can support 6 times your weight on average, and typicaly your neck cant handle 700+ pounds hanging from itbut getting a dread caufght in a car door, or being stepped on or anything likethat can cause alot of pressure (even though you might weigh only 120 pounds to stand up, or jump your legs will generate about 1500 pounds of pressure so standing up quickly and yanking on a caugfght dread can put alot of stress on a dread that might not break it right away but can tear some interior hairs ..doing that over and over can weaken it to the point of breakingoverall weakness is usualy caused by chemical damage, or the use of dread tools like felting or crochet needleswhile weap spots are caused by stuff like interlocking, or i supose even adding a real tight bead early on b4 they thicken up causing a compressed weak point (theoreticly havent seen that happen like the other thins but seems like it could)oh i forgot to mention twisting all that tension can cause weakness and breakage too but also can cause scalp traumathe less u do to dreads the stronger they will beofcourse they have more strength then they will need untill theyre so long they start getting stress damagebutweakness can add up quicklyu think well backcombings not so bad so u do that then think well palm rolling cant hurt so u do thst toothen u try crochet and break alotta hairs so u gotta crochet again to fix emand u do that a few times and your dreads are only at 10% normal srrengththats still enough to suport 80 pounds but u can see dropping from 80 tons to 80 pounds is alotta damage and weaknesssome have gone so far as to have theyre dreads not support 8 ouncesdid it take years? sometimescan it happen in months? absolutelyjust think sbout what your doing and realize that alittle ontop of alittle can add up to alotif u crochet once your dreads wont break (unless u hang an elephant from them or u crochrtted like crazy) but maybe by 3rd time your down to a horse and 5th time your fat overweight uant and 7th time your anorexic cousin and under a year aq 5 pound weight ..and from there its just a matter of time till a heavy beead is too muchmost people dont get to that extreme..but..plenty dosome weakness is unavoidable especialy after decades of wear and tearadding to it from the day u start dreading isnt a great way to plan aheadwhen u start your dreads take that into accountplan on them lasting a lifetime so try to do as lil dammage as u canover the years life will damage them enoughno point in intentionaly adding to it


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 02/14/15 08:50:40AM

i never even mentioned twist and rip dud i?and the mechancics of twist and rip and backcombing are very differentsimply moving the comb from tip to root lifts up and permenantly opens all the cuticles alo9ngthe entire hair shaft..its matal on hair not hair on hair the mechanics are very very differentjust have anyone here with microscope look at a hair thats had twist antd rip done to iti think if its agressive ofcourse u will oull out jhairs and do damage but if its not agressive hairs rubbing on hairs will do no more damage then hairs rubbing on hairs when u sleep or dry your hair or..moveit can do damage if u are agressive but if not it should do nearly nonenow backcombing when not even done agressively enough to cause dreads but just cause body has been well documented to cause permenant damageand like i sauid that wont cause weakness just expose the hair to further damage it weakens the hair not to tensial strength but to other dammaging influences by having all the cuticles pried oiut and unable to closetheyd still supoert nearly te same weight unless other dammaging influences were also pressent


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

huh you are not correct there about how backcombing works it doesnt create knots at all, it compressed hair down into a matt thats not knotted but compressedthe movement of comb against the grain causes all tye cuticles to be lifted up and pried openit has to happen if a comb goes against the grainpet a cats fir backwards and they stand uop thasts the same principlenow twist and rip causes some knotting but mostly compacts the hairs down too but its smooth hairs rubbing on smooth hairs its not metal on hair that causes the damageall backcombed hair will show that damage no mastter how lightly its backcombedits scientificly provenbut again whats it matter? this isnt about the very mild damage caused by backcombing its about the weakness caused by broken hairsthe difference is drasticwe know sunburn dammages skin to an extent permenantly but without severe consequesnces but repeatr4ed burns can lead to more damaging cancersbackcombing is a sunburn cancer is backcombing combined with 10 other maintenances that add damageand crochrt or felting is like spending an hour in an open fireall do permenant damage but the sunburn wont matter much if your not constsntly burnedi dunno why u love arguing about this its a proven fact that backcombing causes damage ..but its not so significant to matter as lo0ng as u dont add to itbut..u cannot cannot cannot backcomb without damage it cant be done


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

ok then get a microscopic picture of hairs damaged by twist and rip otherwise your just making assumptions based on nothingwhen you dry your hair with a towel or sleep on your hairs its rubbing in every possible directuion but not causing any damage at allbut the metal comb does so come on how do u explain that? maybe cause 1 is metal the other hair?


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

i don't see how tnr would damage hair any more than braiding it would, unless you were ruthlessly aggressive... none of my hairs broke in half when i was doing tnr. i used to tease my hair with a PLASTIC comb, and would have broken hairs constantly...but my tnr did turn out braidy looking at first, so maybe i went easy...

exxxxxactlyand the teasing is way less agressive then backcombing to make dreads toou just simply cant compare the methods and say they are equaly dammaging unless u can provide photographic proof at a microscopic levelthe proofs there about backcombing but none exists about tnr which is as gentle as drying your hair


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

umm what? how is dreading evidence of damage?if u stuck a bead on the end of loose hair so it just kept it from being pulled apart accidently it would dread up just as fast..without damageanfrd ppl dont pat theyre hair dry they rub it with a towl and that causes exactly the same ampunt of hair on hair rubbungwhen u pull apart the hairs your not yanking on them painfully your just moving them so the hair bunches up near the rootsyou did some tnr and some backcombung so u can check the dammage on your own hair with a microscope and comparebut to say they must be dammaged to dread fast is just rediculouse hell my sisters ex had long japanese hair that was extremely well cared for and healthy and it literaly dreaded in hours ..overnight not cause it was damaged just cause it was longmaybe length was the only difference in your sets?i dunno but saying it had to be dammaged to dread is just gooffymine dreaded extremely fast to and i still have almost zero split hairs and my hairs extremely healthy and undamagedso come on either drop the silly attempts to prove a point u cant prove or offer up some actual proofhell i think my nephew has a microscope send me a comb and some human hair and ill tnr 1 dread andf backcomb another and show u the difference (hm if i can find a way to photograph thru the microscope)

Knottysleeves said:

"As gentle as drying your hair"? Come on, SE. How is putting KNOTS in your hair and forcefully ripping hairs against each other the same level of manipulation as patting your head with a towel? Seriously.

For the past year I've been using twist & rip to start baby dreads from bunches of loose hairs. Most of those thin dreads have matted up flat and really tight, very quickly -- as someone with fine silky hair, that tells me some damage to the hair surfaces must obviously have happened. There's NO way they would have stayed together and matted up so quickly otherwise. Contrast that to the 3 or 4 months I spent going natural/patience/neglect to start my second set... I didn't have a single knot form naturally in that time, anywhere on my head, and I used the exact same soap and washing/care routine as I do now.

It's not pictures from a microscope, but for what it's worth, after 10 years of dreading I know MY hair very well and how it reacts, and I can tell you with certainty that the twist & rip caused some damage. Not enough to make a dread break off or anything, but it's on par with the very minor damage I've had in the past from backcombing (both methods were done gently).

Sometimes common sense and knowing one's own body are just as good as scientific proof. It is for me, anyway. *shrugs*

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

It's true: damaged hair does hold knots better. I have very fine, silky hair and I used to have my hairdresser bleach it almost platinum blonde on top because it made it have so much more texture from the abuse. The styling was much easier (lol, those goofy bumps girls wear... I may have worn them a time or two), it actually held curl or different styles, and I actually had to brush my hair everyday or it would look crazy-tangled and messy. That being said, and don't take this wrong as I'm no expert, one could assume the damage to hair does help with the dreading process. And I must say, common sense does dictate that both methods are going to cause some - if not more depending on the rigor put into it - damage. The only surefire way of putting dreads in your hair without any damage would be to let them naturally form. IMHO


Knottysleeves said:

It's a lot easier for damaged hair to get tangled and STAY tangled than hair in perfect condition. Any hairdresser can tell you that. Hell, anyone who's ever bleached or chemically dyed/processed their hair can tell you that.

This is getting really tiresome and it's obvious we have very different viewpoints and experiences, so how about we just agree to disagree.

soaringeagle said:

i dunno but saying it had to be dammaged to dread is just gooffy

true and also the best chance at them lasting a span of several decades
the whole point being that the less dammage you do over the lifetime the longer they will last
and theyre lifetime begins the day you start to dread so the less damage from the start the better then the least u add on week by week month by month year by year ..it is cumulative

and the thinkg thats kinda odd is the more damaging the start is the more likely you are (as a feneraloty the average person) the more likely they are to add onto it even obsessivly changing colors monthly fussing over em with tools and products trying 15 different methods even trying every lil thing someone says they should try


u should be consouse from the start of the cumalitve nature of damage and opt for the gentlest things u can within what u want to gain out of it

think is there another way to get the results i want without doing the more dammaging thing
then also think a momment how important is the exact results i want if it might limmit theyre longevity

alotta choices might boil down to this
which u love more having dreads or having dreads look
if its the look u want u might be fine sacrificing how long they last for how they look but if u love having dreads u would want whats best for them and forgive them for not being exactly the image u wanted when i started (if u had 1 i never did)

itrs just a matter of concidering whats an acceptible risk for u but beinhg aware of whats better and worse for what reasons

on youtube there was a dude who made his dreads with superglue
do u think he put any thought at all into what would make them last ?
the reason that u see sooooooooooooooooooo many dreads under 5 years and hardly any over 15 is that everyone chooses whats fast without concidering what lasts
so understanding some of the things that greatly contribute to that trend will help alotta p-pl keep theyre dreads longer

its really not a bad thing to understand the ins and outs of what your doing to your hair b4 u go out and do it


Kyra Lou said:

It's true: damaged hair does hold knots better. I have very fine, silky hair and I used to have my hairdresser bleach it almost platinum blonde on top because it made it have so much more texture from the abuse. The styling was much easier (lol, those goofy bumps girls wear... I may have worn them a time or two), it actually held curl or different styles, and I actually had to brush my hair everyday or it would look crazy-tangled and messy. That being said, and don't take this wrong as I'm no expert, one could assume the damage to hair does help with the dreading process. And I must say, common sense does dictate that both methods are going to cause some - if not more depending on the rigor put into it - damage. The only surefire way of putting dreads in your hair without any damage would be to let them naturally form. IMHO


Knottysleeves said:

It's a lot easier for damaged hair to get tangled and STAY tangled than hair in perfect condition. Any hairdresser can tell you that. Hell, anyone who's ever bleached or chemically dyed/processed their hair can tell you that.

This is getting really tiresome and it's obvious we have very different viewpoints and experiences, so how about we just agree to disagree.

soaringeagle said:

i dunno but saying it had to be dammaged to dread is just gooffy

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

tnr has been a great success for my hair type so far after getting a good start on a lock you can leave slack in the hairs so they don't pull and start to hurt.also wanted to add--i actually just backcombed my ends because the tnr gets hard to do with hardly any left and i already regret it. made them feel/look completely different and you should see how damaged my ends are now from as little as 2 inches of backcombing. however, my ends weren't strong to begin with