Questions about half twist n ripped hair
Dread Maintenance
I agree with what Amanda said.
I started my current dreads with twist and rip. i have had a couple which have separated at the the roots. one dread in particular has done so much it has created a mangrove tree root looking dread. though i've managed to wrap itself around itself and it starting to dread together nicely all be it a bit slow. i've had these dreads for a year and two months now and its only now i am starting to see it not shrink. Shrinkage depends on how tight they were twisted and ripped. i have some which kept a bit of their length but were quite thin and braided looking and some have shrunk from pencil thickness to almost marker thickness. over call in the time since i've had them it probably shrunk by just under half length. every one is different with different hair types. i have brown wavy/curly caucasian hair and i got a fair bit of shrinkage, my dreads are wiggly and kinda lumpy in places. if you have naturally straight hair it may not shrink as much. I did do a bit of crocheting to keep roots together at the start but have been natural for about a year.
you might be ok with having natural dread at the back. i have a plain none dread fringe at the front and make sure to keep it separated from the dreads once a week or so. just be mindful to separate the formed dreads from the forming ones frequently particularly for the first few months.
Happy dreading. hope this is useful 
