Jerry. There are basically two ways for a beard to gain lehgth: 1) genetic
propensity and 2)
dreadlocking.

All hair, has a natural hair cylcle. It grows, it rests, it falls out then
starts growing again
from scratch. Each individual hair is on its own preprogramed cycle, to keep
them from
falling out all at the same time. In order for the cycle to work each hair has
a
preprogramed terminal length. Beard hairs usually have a cylce form three to
seven years.
How fast your beard grows added to the amount of years in you cylcle will
determine your
terminal length. For some men that could be a few inches and for others several
feet.

There are a few men who are blessed with a mutated gene which does not tell the
hairs
when to rest and fall out. For these men their hairs grows non stop. They could
potentially
grow beards of unlimited length.

From what you describe your beard is programmed at around three years for 6-
8
inches. Cutting and or trimming will NOT make the hairs grow faster,thicker. or
longer.

Besides cutting, shaving, and trimming which only cause a shorter beard (or no
beard at
all) There are other factors that can cause beard loss such as poor diet, split
ends, illness,
insuficient vitimins, insuficient testosterone, etc.

So, If you have reached terminal length and are not genetically blessed with the
mutated
gene and your beard is healthy then how to you obtain greater length?

The answer is Dreadlocking. If you look at a hair under a microscope you will
see that it is
barbed, not unlike velcro. The hairs can be forced to interlock, causing the
hairs to clump
together and form a rope. The rope is a mix of growing hairs and fallen hairs.
The
interlocking can be forced either by not maintaing the beard ( never cleaning,
combing .
etc ie think of a homeless guys beard) or by braiding the beard tight for a
week, then
back combing the beard with a bit of beard wax until the hairs clump together.

If you go back and look at photos of men from the 1800's who grew beard 11 - 17
feet in
length. the majority of these beards are dreaded. Hans Langseth, who had
world's longest
beard (17.5 feet when he died). had a dreadlock beard.

For most long beard growers their primary goal (curiosity) is to see how long
their beards
will naturally grow ie what is their terminal length. For some it's a few
inches, for most it's
1- 2 feet, and for some to their surpriseis waist lenght and even knee length.

Some long beard growers once thay have reached terminal length shave their
beards and
begin the process of growing long again. Most resolve themselves to that's what
they were
given and go about their lives as long bearded men. It takes a very dedicated
individual to
grow an extreme beard. If one is willing to go and grow beyond what society
deems
"acceptible" on can have a beard that reaches the floor and beyond. If one
lives long
enough and continues to grow their dreaded beard one can possibly grow the
world's
longest beard.







-- In growinglongbeards@yahoogroups.com, Jerry Leidecker <greywuff1967@...>
wrote:
>
> Hey guy's I just joined.
>
> I have a full beard about 31/2 years of growth. I keep losing all the longer
hair and it
seems to not want to grow beyond the 6 to 8 inch lenght it currently is.
>
> Any suggestions on what I can do to get additional lenght? I really don't
know much
on the subect of beards.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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now.
>
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