Beards....

[Doc]

Mountaineering and polar explorer types seem to prefer a beard. Must admit to never having grown one - not allowed in the TA, of course.

Is it really warmer? Here is the research evidence:


http://mudhead.uottawa.ca/~pete/beard.html

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

I made one Antarctic and one Arctic tour in the Coast Guard plus a year in Alaska. Beards offer minimal protection, increased hygiene issues and collect frost. You do have to be carefull as a freshly shaved face is more vulnerable to frostbite. They look very heroic in photos, but then how many Inuit have full beards? Genetic selection seems to have ruled them out.

 

[chris chris]

I think so, no chaffed skin in the cold, lovely and warm in the mountains ack:

 

[Squidders]

My chin always feels warmer after a few weeks growth.

 

[arctic hobo]

... I've always understood they were essential. I don't have a beard in day to day life but in the arctic I would grow one. Certainly as you say Chris it's important not to shave. Many of the Norwegians I have been around with in that part of the world had beards, some huge, some tiny. The Inuit point is very interesting though.
I notice on the first day or so it's hard to talk. Your upper lip goes numb and you don't articulate properly. With a tache it's much easier. It's just a pity beards don't grow on noses because my nose always feels the cold the worst.

 

[Carcajou Garou]

Used to work outdoors when i was younger and had a beard for over 20 years helped a lot in winter took the edge off. Never had frost bite did shave in March once to see what it was like never again in winter to much of a "baby" face. :shock:
just a thought

 

[leon-1]

This is not me sitting on the fence, but I agree with ChrisK and CG, I have had a beard off and on pretty much the whole time since leaving the forces.

Beards can leave you open to hygeine issues, especially in summer so in summer I tend to shave mine off (summer in England lasts a couple of weeks), but in winter I tend to keep it. It is warmer, cuts down a little of the windchill and I notice this when I trim it back.

There is also something comforting in having a beard, you will notice that quite a few people that have them can be seen every now and then stroking the beard, I tend to do it when I am thinking, it is a bit like stroking a cat or dog that is pemanently attached to your face, it's calming.

Anyway if I shaved it off in winter I would have to evict a familly of field mice ):

 

[RovingArcher]

I have worn a beard most of my adult life. I shave it every once in awhile so the wife remembers what I really look like.

 

[Dave Farrant]

I always find a beard to be much much colder...my wife won't go near me in bed if I have one. ):

 

[Fallow Way]

I`m an on/off person with beards.......

In day to day life, living in our lovely shiny world where life is painfully easy I have one, trimmed and just a light covering, not exactly something i could be in danger of tripping over (plus, from a vanity point on view, i think i look better with one)......


.....on the other hand, mostly when i spend time out in the woods i shave everyday, part of a routine to stay spotless, clean and healthy........


....athough i think it will change to just two grades of beards, as I honestly actually dont like the feeling of being clean shaven (plus i`m thinking of others, having to see more of my face than usual), a very light one, to a fuller one for the colder months and trips to chilly regions.


My tupence

 

[Toddy]

I always find a beard to be much much colder...my wife won't go near me in bed if I have one. ):

My husband has had a beard since he was 22, shaving leaves his face raw and he needs to shave at least twice a day to keep it looking clean. He suits it, he keeps it clean and smart looking, I like it.....except when it's just trimmed.....I know why you get the cold shoulder, beard burn's not funny
Maybe beards just need a conditioner

Toddy

 

[RovingArcher]

I used to keep mine short and well trimmed, but the wife urged me to keep mine on the longer side. She said it helps to eliminate the prickly feeling and burn on her delicate skin.

 

[Dave Farrant]

Maybe beards just need a conditioner

Tried that (well a normal conditioner)! :?:

Need to shave for my job, so twice a day and red raw every morning. :yikes:

 

[innocent bystander]

I grow a goatee for the express purpose of having something to scratch while deep in thought, though i do retain the option of growing side panels when i cant be bothered with the razor. I do keep it trimmed though.

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

I was scheduled for arctic survival school in Alaska. Yes, I had my first beard, neatly trimmed being allowed at that time. I looked like Farley Mowat and the tar on Player navy cuts. I looked GOOD. Two CPOs were also scheduled for the school. Chief White was a rolly poly, good natured southern boy who possessed one of those anonymous faces ignored so quickly you don't even forget it. He was also probably the best boat pusher I ever served with. Chief Vergeer had a full beard, aviator sunglasses, cap crushed AKA Mac Arthur, Wellington Boots ( optional for CPO's) ,more tattoos than Liddia and a huge free form briar pipe bellowing more smoke than the fleet at Jutland. He was, to be polite and generous, ' competant.' So we're out there under the northern lights listening alternantly to a Soviet broadcast of traditional music and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon from Quebec :super: . Chief Vergeer was, as usual talking nonstop with authority on everything from cars to world affairs. His breath eventually formed a thick hoarfrost on his beard and even a few icecicles. Chief White finally took exception to a comment about southern women and backhanded Vergeer :yikes: The frozen hair follicles snapped off in a perfect handprint across his chin and moustache . I later shaved in my personal shelter, no mean feat with a ASAF survival knife :Crazy_071

 

[Toddy]

Tried that (well a normal conditioner)! :?:

Need to shave for my job, so twice a day and red raw every morning. :yikes:

Eldest son has a beard like his dad's, but J shaves using an oil now, says it keeps his skin from feeling scraped raw, and his beard seems softer when it comes in too.....just an idea :?:

Toddy

 

[tomtom]

i was hoping to get one for my 19th birthday on monday.. unfortunately it didn't happen maybe next year :rolmao:

 

[Abbe Osram]

I would like to have this kind of very big beard the arctic explorers had but unfortunately my beard gets holes which are changing place. I never have a closed and whole beard, there are always some patches missing. So I should not have a beard at all but laziness let me have a rotten looking one now and then.

I think I am going to buy a fake actors beard and glue it on when I go into the woods to make my dream come true. My wife hates beards and I can take it of when I go home.

So my new fake actors beard will become a part of my bushcraft gear. One could use it as a tinder too

cheers
Abbe

 

[maddave]

Beards keep you warm in the winter by trapping air (still air = insulation) and in the summer they keep you cool by wicking the sweat away. best of both worlds. I've had a beard since leaving the army in 1982 in one form or another . Either full face or goatee (goatee at the moment) and I'll probably have one till I die.

Beards ROCK!! :super: (if you don't believe me, watch a ZZ TOP video!) :biggthump

 

[george]

i have a beard that kind of varies throughout the year. In summer (and for most of the rest of the time) I keep it trimmed back very short and shave the sides once a week or so. In winter I let it grow a little longer with a little more coverage. I've had a beard of one sort or another for 20 odd years and the only time I shaved it off completely I couldn't believe how cold my chin was!

I never shave when out in the field - a cut from shaving could get nasty so why risk it. Instead if I'm out for a long time I take scissors and cut it back as far as possible with them.

george