Forum Activity for @stingrey

Dust and keeping it out

General Questions

Hi Nick welcome to the dreadlocks journey. Your off to a great start by coming to this site & getting real advice from fellow dreadheads and not some sales pitch from the other commercial sites.As for dust, I run & cycle through the forest, as long as your NOT using wax it shouldn't be a problem. Flying sawdust is definitely a concern because as your dreads mature you need to give them time to dry or you could run the risk of mold and the accompanying "wet dog" smell developing from too frequent washing. The rule of thumb is once every three days once they fully mature. Use Vicky's Locking Up Dreadlockshampoo.com, I've tried them all & her's are hands down the best.As for how to keep dust out in the first place, yeah a shower cap will work but it might be incongruent with your setting. I work in healthcare at a small mountaintop regional hospital & we worry not about dust but bacteria, spores & other infectious agents. We use medical scrubs & surgical caps. The longer surgical caps more appropriate for dreads are called "Bouffants". Here's a link to some U.S. Made quality Bouffants that not only sport a terry cloth band to keep the sweat out of your eye, but also come in camouflage & other hetero-male centric colors. You'll have to scroll through tons of bright colors & flowers. Healthcare is a very large female dominated work place. Get a bunch (at least one for every workday) that way you only have to wash them once a week. Good luck brother and keep us posted on your progress. http://www.sparklingearth.com/products.asp?category=100030

A new TV series with the intention to dispel the myths and stereotypes around people with dreadlocks

Dreads as Community Leaders/Builders

Thank you for sharing your journey Soaring Eagle. I think we were all curious about the full extent of it past the two weeks in the woods start of the journey :>

I am not high profile by any means thank you, but I am a nationally certified & registered healthcare professional. I work in the pathology(laboratory)department at my level one trauma / open heart hospital. The most urgent and easily recognizable of my responsibilities I would say is when people need blood due to loss I am one of the Medical Scientists who finds compatible blood for transfusion.

It is kinda entertaining to my co-workers that the organization still uses my old image on some of their recruiting material & advertisements. It was a picture taken of me by their PR personnel when I first started working there, close cropped hair and all; totally unrecognizable from my long haired goateed appearance now. I do not fit any "mold" by any means, I walk my own path. Most Medical Scientists are quiet introverted bookish science types with a very conservative "Mall/J.Crew/Banana Republic" yuppie/preppy appearance . I am very verbose and outgoing, I wear organic hemp clothes and my "bling" consist of koa wood. We are highly compensated (not bragging, just stating) so this leads many, by far the majority, to be very materialistic. I on the other hand could happily live out of a bus with my surfboards on top listening to reggae and gathering fallen coconuts & mangos for food.

I am also a ten year veteran, though outside of work you would probably never guess it by merely looking at my hair, clothes and wood accessories. Outside of work I am very laid back in my life, demeanor and appearance.It would be only after spending some time interacting with me on a professional level at work that the "Affirmative (yes) Sirs" and "Negatory (no) Ma'ams" would give that away with an occasional 'OOrah.

I was frontline Naval Hospital Corpsman assigned to First Marine Division. Though I was in the Navy, I spent most of my service time assigned to the Marines. Lined up in formation with my brothers in arms, you would have been hard pressed to tell I was actually in the Navy and not a Marine. At my one "shore" command at a Naval Hospital they placed me on Military Police duty. It would crack up my Master at Arms when I would roll up to the station playing Sublime songs like "Smoke Two Joints". Yes I listen to reggae, have been since the early '90s. No I don't smoke ganja, I don't drink, I do not place any intoxicants into my body. I like keep myself clean and clear; mind, body & soul. Besides with my current line of work I need every brain cell I have.

Though most veterans, G-d Bless them, and especially Marines and their Corpsmen tend to be very conservative; I am very much an independent free thinker. I do believe in peace, and having seen the destructiveness of man first hand I despise war and the loss of life it entails. I value all life as precious and take no pleasure in the taking of life. I have also seen those that would subjugate their fellow humans, and sadly tyranny has always been in our history as a whole. We need those who would speak out and if need be take physical action to protect our safety and right to self determination. All have a voice and they should never be silenced. I pray for the ideal, yet I see the holistic reality. I firmly believe the strong were placed upon this earth to protect the weak, not exploit them.

As for my dreads I started them as a spiritual journey first and foremost. I have been on the dreadlocks journey before though I did not know it at the time. Mostly because it was only for few short months at a time and my curly hair would just get all tangled into a 'fro. When my service had ended I would go for months at a time without grooming, only washing as a cleansing and healing of wounds both mine and those in the world. It taught me the lessons of humility, the letting go of vanity and the material world and a more mindful existence.

At my old job I worked for a faith based charity hospital and they were totally understanding of my journey and the letting go of grooming. At my current job my higher ups include some ultraconservative Texans. I grew up with a Texan (my father) and I knew my ragged appearance would be an issue. So before I started my journey I let them know my reasons and that I would keep my hair as tidy, clean & out of sight as possible. In keeping with my word before I started my journey I had my hair "interlocked" to keep my crazy curly/wavy hair as neat as possible. I hated my hair after that and I saw it as a compromise on something that is at my core, my spirit. I wish I knew then what I know now. It is possible to have natural hair and be a professional. The answer is simply pulling it back and out of the way with a wide wool head band (or cotton if your fully vegan), or if more discretion or sanitary cleanliness is required like in my case a wool tam to completely cover it up (in medical terms we call the long surgical caps bouffants).

I subsequently undid most of the interlocks and found how all the twisting had weakened the strands. In the intervening months my hair became very "messy" and started to dread on it's own. Since I now had "dreads" (ha, baby dreads) I went to all the different commercial dread sites and I used all kinds of different shampoos before I wised up the hard way. I thank Soaring Eagle for this site and all the knowledge and wisdom it freely provides.

What most do not understand is choosing to have natural hair is placing yourself squarely in a minority, a hair minority. Those of us that were born into a minority recognize the similar instances of stereotypes and prejudices that we had to deal with as children. Thankfully a lot of that is rapidly receding into history and our children will be growing up in a much more open, accepting and mindful society. If you do encounter these obstacles, therule of thumb for overcoming these we knew was simply you have to earn it. We knew we would have to always work harder and do our best, be beyond reproach. Expecting to work twice as hard for half the recognition of our peers; slowly and steadily we would earn their respect and be an integral & eventually indispensable member of the team. If you are professional or have a business, it will push you to provide better service and to excel.

I have ran into a few uninformed misconceptions about dreads. Almost exclusively from family really, they are the only ones who have had the confidence to ask me about my hair in general. I have never had complete strangers approach me about my hair or make any derogatory remarks or offer to "help" me with my hair. I think a lot it is how you carry yourself. They mostly ask about my diet and exercise or the natural soaps I use.

One of the things that becomes apparent to us once we cross that barrier of vanity is how society is just riddled with insecurities. They strive so hard and place so much importance, and with it time and resources, trying to conform to societal standards for outward appearance. Meanwhile their interiors are rife with sickness, necrosis and disease from neglect, self destructive eating habits and intoxicants, and a toxic unnatural environment. I know, I see the effects first hand in my work. But what can you do? That is their freedom, if they want to poison their bodies that is their choice. Honestly I see it as protracted suicide. So what can we do? Show them a better way, a more mindful holistic way. It starts by setting an example as with truly effective leadership it begins by leading by example.

Eat and live mindfully, healthy & organically as we were intended to live.The way your body glows and radiates health and vitality will be your biggest billboard. Smile widely and broadly, try to look deeply into your fellow human beings peacefully with love in your eyes. Try and see their inner spirit, the spark of the divine that lives in all of us, all are precious in the Creator's eyes. Share with them your knowledge, enlighten them with your wisdom. Explain to them that it is not only possible for them, but also their right to be able to live as healthy, holistically and freely as they were intended to be. They think it's expensive to eat organically, but explain to them what is truly the bottom line is. Grow it yourself, or join a Co-Op or even better a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). If that can't afford that I know most small local organic farms gladly hire hands in exchange for a share in the crop and even a room if needed. It takes many hands to run a farm, even more so an organic non-pesticide one. If they say they have no time for exercise. Ask them if they have a T.V., there's their time for exercise. Turn off that electronic box spewing radiation into your living room, put down the remote & bag of Doritos filled with toxic chemical and get outside into the clean air, walk, run, swim, surf, breath deeply and be grateful we are able to enjoy this earth.

These are the lessons that my dreads and journey have thought me.

Guys...I need help.

Alternative Lifestyles and Subcultures

Change IS happing Shane, it's all around us. Fifty years ago the terms organic, vegan, sustainable where not even in the vocabulary of the general populace. Today there terms are not only known, more & more people are choose these paths for their life. Change as whole in society is slow, but do not loose hope. True change begins with us. Gandhi once stated: "If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do". It is often shorten to it's core meaning: Be the Change you wish to see in the World. Don't wait for others, live your life as responsibly and consciously as possible and enlighten those you meet on your journey. You want to lead others toward a better tomorrow? Then start today, with yourself. The most effective leadership is by example, so be the best example of the change you wish to see.

As for living more organically with a family I'ld say do it! The great part about it is your not the first, others have not only blazed that trail but blog about it too. Here's one of my favorites, Nina. Her family of six actually lives in an old converted school bus on an organic herb farm. Here's a link to her website: http://shalommama.com/about

Good luck Shane and keep us posted brother. By the way, I'm seriously considering converting an old VW camper bus myself.

Moisture help?

Dreads Hair and Scalp Health

I agree with Soaring Eagle. It probably isn't just that your dreads are dry, as much as it is "fried" from having the cuticles subjected to constant opening & closing from the Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. I have tried all the different shampoos out there, Vicki's shampoos are easily the best out there. The Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar rinse is good for a very deep clean, but I wouldn't use it as a weekly wash. I find that even with the ACV rinse, the alkaline of the Baking Soda opens the cuticle & just frazzles the hair too much if it is used often. I still use it but only once a month, in your case it might be better to just stay off the Baking Soda completely until your hair heals.

It would be easier to advise you if we had some current pictures, but in general if you feel your hair is too dry then stop using the sea salt spray and any products with sea salt. Like Soaring Eagle advised look at the bars not the liquid as they have sea salt. The reason most have problems with sea salt is they use way too much in their mixtures and are therefore way too concentrated instead of using a more reasonable 3-4% salinity like that of the ocean. Compound that with constant Baking Soda washes I can easily understand why your hair isn't feeling good and strong.

I would continue the ACV rinses to slowly continue to close the cuticle & heal the hair first instead of oil. The reason being that in my personal experience with my young immature dreads i found that oil is conditioning. Unless your dreads are fully mature directly using oil to condition could lead to unraveling and unknotting of your hair. In between wash days try a making an acidic citrus tea to add to your Jojoba oil. A Lemon Balm or Lemon Grass tea mixed with your oil in a spritzer bottle should do it. If this doesn't work as a last resort I would look at experimenting with light amounts Coconut oil. Our brethren of African descent use it on their mature dreads though their hair tends to be very dry & kinky. I would test it on only one dread and see how it responds.

Good luck & keep us posted on your progress

Losing hair

General Talk

Normal daily hair loss is over 120 hairs (127 to be exact) just think about that for a minute, what would 120 hairs look like. Before the dreading process I would always see lots of individual hairs going down the drain. The thing with dreads is they begin to trap those hairs more & more as they mature. I was at the point you are now a few months ago. I was losing not individual strands but chunks of hair when I showered. I also worried briefly then I remembered these were hairs I would have lost anyways. In the three days from wash to wash I would have lost nearly 400 hairs, did the chunk look like 400 or even 200 hairs? Hardly, more like 40 hairs so when I looked at the grand total I was up by well over 300 hairs. After that I didn't worry. Now I don't see the chunks coming out, just a few liberated strains roped together that will slowly come out after a few washings little by little. My hair is getting heavier too so I know I'm retaining a lot more hairs now that they have started to mature into proper dreads. Just look at the pictures of my dreads from the eight months to ten months, the difference is very dramatic even more so if you look at the six month baby dreads I had before.

Don't worry so much about pulling them back, I do it all the time for work, exercise & sports. I use mostly long wool head wraps & wool tams, other's here say the wool's texture is the best as it helps them dread up faster, plus the ones I use feel great. Whatever you use as long as there is not a lot of tension (read: discomfort) just let them down when you finish & they'll be fine. If your tired of all the matting that happens in the back get a round bolster pillow & drape your hair on the other side of it so your not matting it down into congos with the back of your skull every night. Some people put them up in wool tube at night as well as use the round bolster pillows, I don't. My dreads are too confined during the day so I let them run free at night, but if I did I would use the long merino wool head wraps from from Buff that I use normally at all other times ( http://www.buffwear.com/buff-headwear/wool-buff ). I've tried a bunch they are the best.

If your starting to see dreads pay a closer attention to how you wash. When you shower start at the scalp & wash the individual dreads from base to tips don't just mash them all up together. I usually start with a "primer" wash. Basically I take a small amount of Tea Tree Liquid Locking Up Shampoo and I apply it to the scalp. It's getting harder to reach the scalp with my fingertips on the first wash so I just use the palms of my hands in a gentle, slow but firm circular fashion. I scrub my face & let it soak in a bit. I then rinse it out and repeat with a larger portion of one of the scented Liquid Locking Up Shampoos (Nag Champa is my favorite but it's the strongest, Patchouli has nice earthy scent & Drangon's Blood is almost citrusy but it's the least strongest of the three). I repeat at the scalp then I gently begin wringing and palm rolling the suds from base to tip. I let the shampoo soak in a good five minutes just basking in that great scent while I scrub the rest of my body, I then rinse starting at the scalp, slowly & gently wring each dread from base to tip. The this take time? Yes, but we only wash them twice a week or every third day so it's not like an everyday ritual.On the other 5 days a week I simply use a shower cap. Plus the Nag Champa scent reminds me of the temples I visited in India and it helps to relax & release all the tension that inevitably builds up in my body from my high pressure job at the hospital. Besides these are our dreads, aren't they worth it to take a little extra time? When you dry them again don't just mash them up in ball, start at the base and slowly work toward the tips gently wringing each individually in the towel. I've seen a lot better separation & definition washing this way.

Good look bro & keep us posted

Reggae?

General Questions

You will be amazed by how varied the Reggae sound is now a days. From Roots Reggae (Buju Banton, Capleton) and Dancehall (Bennie Man, Sean Paul) to Puerto Rican Reggaeton (Ivy Queen, Daddy Yankee) & Latino Reggae (Early Man, Stream http://8tracks.com/explore/reggae_latino )to Island Reggae (Common People, Hirie) there has never been a better time for Reggae. But maybe you should start at the beginning with the precursors of Reggae, which are Ska & Rocksteady, that way you can better appreciate how reggae came to be and how it has progressed through the years.

The Late 50's & Early 60's Jamaican Independence, Positivity & Dance Halls: Ska (Eric Monty Morris, Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers)

Mid 60's Rude Boys and the beginning of violence: Rocksteady you can really start to hear the progression toward Reggae, some older Jamaicans believe this was the height of Jamaican music. There was still a lot of positivity in music (Hopetown Lewis, Delroy Wilson). There is a very good film on this called: Rocksteady The Roots of Reggae

http://www.rocksteadyrootsofreggae.com/english/rocksteady.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feywAK09bxk

Late 60's Rastafari Movement, Musical Rebellion: Reggae was born in the ghettos out of oppression that is why you can hear the tinges of sorrow in the music. Maybe that is what drew so many to it: Bob Marley & The Wailers, Toot's & The Maytals

70's: Reggae goes global & Bands begin to form outside Jamaica: Most of Bob Marley's work that you have heard has come from this decade. Also Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, toward the end of the decade Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Steele Pulse (U.K.) were formed though their most famous works belong to the 80's. Also early Punk bands in London & the U.K. began playing reggae songs in there sets. An insight into this decade can be seen in the 1977 film Roots, Rock Reggae Inside the Jamaican Music Scene.

For now that's plenty and should give you a brief but solid understanding of Reggae. I'll come back later & we can briefly go over the 80's to today.

updated by @stingrey: 07/23/15 03:09:00AM

Reggae?

General Questions

I love the the Roots Rock Reggae (or what I like to call West Coast Dub) & Island Reggae (Hawai'ian Reggae). I have a few Hawai'ian artists posted on my page. Here's a couple of sites you can stream from, Surf Roots Radio, Maui Native 92.5 7 Q103. Yes they have competing radio stations that play reggae ALL day in Hawai'i

http://surfroots.com/surfrootsradio

http://player.streamtheworld.com/liveplayer.php?CALLSIGN=KLHIFM

http://q103maui.com

http://www.native925.com

Enjoy Brah.

help shape the future of dreadlockssite

General Talk

I love the mobile feature, loads fast and the pages scroll easily on my iPhone. Though it is hard to scroll within the posts themselves, maybe if we could make the white scroll icon a little wider that would help.

How do you deal with peer pressure?

General Talk

You will discover that this journey of the dreadlocks is a spiritual one, but it is also a path of discovery, self fulfillment and enlightenment. One of the firstlessons you will learnis the letting go of appearance, vanity and false pride. Once you let go of those one thingyou will quickly discover on this pathis the absolute "neediness" of others in our society, honestly it is so prevalent that it is funny when you realize it and you'll start to laugh. Most people living in our society are so worried about others and what others might think and how they will be judged that they extend that same "neediness" to you, especially you now that are you are stepping outside conventional societal norms and rules of appearance. But sometimes you just have to break the rules if want to break free. Learn the lessons that this journey will teach you. One of the first ones is: you will be judged by most of society based on your appearance no matter what you look like, but guess what it doesn't matter. The only judges you need to worry about are you and the creator above, everyone else is just an opinion. Let them continue on the mindless drone path of societal acceptance, you are different. You are on the path of enlightenment.

How do you respond to other's "neediness" and their attempts to "help" you? By realizing first what it truly is. Understand they truly mean well and most are coming from a place of good intentions. No one has ever asked to help me with my hair. They only have asked at the most why I have let my hair dread or out of curiosity how I maintain it, though women do tend to like touching it. I think a lot of it is it how you carry yourself. If you exude self understanding, wisdom and confidence few people will think you need help, you are not seeking their approval. If anyone did ever ask to help me with my hair I would look them straight in their eyes, try to see their inner spirit, and respond smiling with genuine kindness & love in my eyes that I understand they have good intentions and that they are trying to help me, but that I am perfectly happy with my hair. If they ask why or how could I be happy with it's appearance, I would respond like I normally do. Enlighten them with knowledge, explain that natural dreads are the most healthiest but that it takes anywhere from one to two years to look mature. I then imbue them with the understanding that this is not a hairstyle, but a commitment.

Good luck and blessings on your journey & keep us posted.

dread gel

Dread Products

I use it every other wash (once a week) right after I get out of the shower. I'll towel dry each dread individually wringing them gently from base to tip. I find this works better then just mashing it all up in the towel and squeezing as this leads to a lot of dreads combining that will need separating later on. I then add the a small amount of gel to the undreaded base and gently move it up the hair shafts toward the tips via gentle palm rolling. My dreads are maturing now so I only use it sparingly at the base. It is REALLY light, much lighter then all the other gels out there. I've tried the Jamaican Mango & Lime (way too greasy) as well as Knotty Boys (way too heavy and hard to wash out). Vicki's from the Dreadlockshampoo.com site is truly the best. It is very light and it helps but it also washes out very easily. Actually you'll hardly even notice it's there once it dries in a couple of a hours after your shower apart from the great smell. I love the Karma scent. I've never tried it on dry hair though. I think you would need to use more on dry hair as it wouldn't move along so freely up a dry knotty hair shaft.