Value of a Beard on the Trail

[mink319]

Some people tell me that they grow a beard in winter to keep their face warm. I dont know how good this works, but in real cold weather a beard often gets rimed with ice. That cant be good. I dont think I would grow a beard just to keep warm. If its real cold I just wear a wool mask. So what do you think about growing a beard to keep your face warm?

 

[Turnbill]

I love the feeling of a chunk of ice hanging from my chin! No really, nothing makes one look more macho than a big face-icle. I've had my beard for over 30 years so I can't tell if it keeps me warmer or not, but I like to think it does.

 

[arm]

i grew a beard this winter, hoping it would provide warmth for Winter hiking trips

it backfired, especially when we hiked North Brother last week

-20F high during the day prompted me to wear a thin balaclava all day

wasn't long before it iced up (condensation from my breath)

an ice collar formed under my chin, and stuck to my beard ... i could not remove my balaclava until we returned to the heated cabin that night

an icicle protruded from my chin, making me look like an upside-down unicorn

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?...5&Ux=0&collid=13716962905&photoid=99124862905

good news is that i can shave my beard and weave up a toasty nipple warmer

 

[MadRiver]

I have had a beard for ten or fifteen years but recently shaved it to a goatee while my gray hair stabilizes. I will return to the beard after that. I have not fond the beard to be warmer in the winter than the goatee.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Some people tell me that they grow a beard in winter to keep their face warm. I dont know how good this works.....

You gotta be kidding.. Everyone will think that this is a setup. You see, I'm a world fameous expert on this subject. Seriously. I've been interviewed by the BBC, KROCK (something like that) in Baltimore, a radio station in Japan, and have been featured in numerous magazines.

If you google on 'Beard Research' I'll come out right there at the top, however, my machine, mudhead is out of commission tonight, so you can see the page at it's one-of-these-days replacment.

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/beard.html

And here is the radio broadcast:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/beardradio.html

 

[stopher]

My beard definitely adds warmth in the winter. That's why I start letting it grow long in October and mow it in the spring. But as arm observed, it tends to freeze to the balaclava. All you have to do is hold your bare hand, palm side, to your chin for a minute and it will free itself. If it's too cold to have your hands bare, then you probably don't want to take off your balaclava. No problem.

 

[Turnbill]

Re: Re: Value of a Beard on the Trail

You see, I'm a world fameous expert on this subject...
If you google on 'Beard Research' I'll come out right there at the top

Wow Pete, you're telling the truth! I am not worthy to wear a beard in your company

 

[Buddur]

Sorry...Can't Help Ya

Pushing 40 and still cannot grow a beard.

And Pete, your experiment is a hoot. I put a piece of paper up to the pic and covered one half of your mug, then the other, and you almost look like Ted Kazinski in the one. lol

 

[sbear]

I have had a beard on and off for the last 15 years and, other than right after i shave it off, I do not notice it being any warmer in the winter with it or cooler in the summer without it.

Pete, those pictures are great. I shaved half my beard for charity for a day in college, but your experiment takes the cake.

 

[JohnL]

My beard comes and goes with either a change of season or change of mind. Though, now I opt only for the goatee as I don't like the full beard feel anymore. Maybe the white hairs in my beard are more irritable. I'm not sure. I will attest that the beard is definitely warmer in the winter, even if it is coated with ice . Ice is an insulator, you know. That's why they spray the oranges in FLA to protect them from a frost.

JohnL

 

[JimB]

I'm always outdoors in the winter either working, cycling, XC skiing or snowshoeing and I always depend on facial hair to keep me warm. If I trim it a little to look more respectable it sure seems cooler for awhile. I really enjoy the feeling of ice formations on my face when it's cold. If we weren't supposed to have hair on our face it wouldn't be growing there

 

[el-bagr]

I am convinced that my beard keeps me warmer in winter. I believe that the feelings of warmth come more from cutting the wind than from insulation against heat radiation/conduction.

One downside comes when I wear a turtleneck-scarf; on a cold day, it freezes on fairly well. Not much of a problem unless someone (or a branch) tries to pull it off quickly.

I agree entirely with JimB's comment that if we weren't supposed to be able to grow facial hair, we wouldn't have the ability. A beard, scraggly though it may be, is a gift from God (or evolution or Scottish heritage, as you wish).

 

[adkleaddog]

I've always had a beard...so I wouldn't know what life is like without it !!! Cold I'd imagine!!

 

[captain]

yup.

I've been growing a beard in the colder months for the past 4 years. I shave on the morning of the sept. equinox for the last time and shave it off on the vernal equinox...it is still cold in march usually though, and I feel the difference immediately. I agree with the comments made above, it seems to cut down the wind, and possibly adds a marginal amount of insulation...but I know walking down the street on a nippy day, the area above my beard is a hell of a lot colder than the area covered by the beard. I'm looking forward to shaving this year...I'm anxiously awaiting some warmer weather so I can get out on the trails.

 

[sp1936]

A place for icicles to grow.

A place for food chunks to stick, making other hikers nauseous.

Warmth? No way.

Steve

 

[mavs00]

Undecieded..........

I usually alternate between a goatee and full beard at different points in the years. Quite frankly, I can't honestly say, it's a wamth thing or not. I keep it pretty cropped so I would doupt it.

My primary reason for wearing facial hair has more to do with the fact that everyone say's I just look plain foolish without it. Not that I don't look foolish with it, just LESS FOOLISH.

In summer I use it primarily for survival. It a great crumb saver, so that I will always have a small bite to eat, and thus fend off starvation for a little longer.

btw, just men are chiming in, come on ladies, what are your thoughts on the subject

 

[MadRiver]

Ok, I will be the one to ask; ladies do you let your leg hair grow in the winter?

Back in my youth, I dated a number of women who did not shave their legs so this question is not out of left field.

 

[Barry Sr]

Re: Undecieded..........

My primary reason for wearing facial hair has more to do with the fact that everyone say's I just look plain foolish without it. Not that I don't look foolish with it, just LESS FOOLISH.

I have had one all my adult life and the one time I took it off, my own mother said I was ugly without it.

My kids won't go near me and my wife will not kiss me without a beard.

I have been uncomfortable in real cold conditions with the ice hanging off of it and the cooky duster thing is gross, but like Mavs,

I need it to stay in the family.
BTW, does anyone else think Mavs looks like anyone famous?

 

[Mtn-top]

Pete's half a beard pictures are too funny. I do think beards keep you a bit warmer and offer a bit of protection for the face- if they didn't all the forest creatures would be bald! As for icicles and frost on a beard, that is just another layer of insulation. However, icicles on moustaches are quite another matter- especially as they melt into your coffee- yuck!

-Charlie

 

[spencer]

surely you beard afficionados have seen this ...

Despite what my avatar implies, I've had a beard for most of the last 4 or 5 years. I think it is warmer in the winter, but it's likely that it feels warmer b/c of the wind block (a la el-bagr)

that being said, I also agree with those that said it causes problems. Last winter in BSP Mohamed had to help me melt my beard from my parka zipper. I couldn't get my zipper undone b/c first my beard was frozen to it and then the zipper itself was frozen.

and of course, I get the nostril-block pretty regularly...

but I like it and more importantly, my lady likes it...