Silly braid question

[sapphire-o]

My boys are both growing their hairs out. They're both about mid-back length right now. A couple days ago I gave each of them a single braid. The weird thing is son1's braid looked 50% bigger than son2's. Son1 has 2a hair that's golden brown, son2 has 2b hair that's dark brown. I measured their ponytails before and they're both exactly the same size at 3.75". When coiled up their cinnamon buns look the same size as well. In fact their hairs are pretty much like mine. I just don't understand why the braids look so different.

[florenonite]

Do they both have the same strand thickness? My hair is fine so, while it's thick and dense (I have a smallish head and iii hair), it can compress a lot in braids, but less so in buns.

[Betazed]

Like florenonite said, it may be do to compression and/or how tight each braid is? I often notice this when doing double Dutch braids. The one I do last always ends up looking thicker and slightly longer than the first braid I do. I think this is because I’m not holding my stands as tightly. (I have arthritis so by the time I’m done braiding, my hands ache like mad and will easily cramp up). Also, maybe it’s a trick of the eye because of the difference in texture and colour? :shrug: