Tricks for Camping?

[noel11]

I plan to be camping for about two months straight this summer. Yes, I'll have limited shower access, and I'm definitely bringing my hair supplies to keep it from dying in the summer sun, but I'm also fairly sure by the end of those two months I'll be rather sick of braiding my hair and buns in my hair tend to rat easily. Any advice for how to put my hair up daily to weekly this summer? Corn rows probably aren't my best bet either. :D Anyone else ever take their mane of hair away from the normal months for two months at a time, and how did it end up?

[krissykins]

I'm sure water only will become your friend. A boar bristle brush and oil might be helpful as well. :)

As for hairstyles, braids braids braids!

ETA: I just read that you'll be sick of braids, too. I thought it only said buns haha. There are lots of different braid options though! Dutch braids, French braids, English braids, crown braids, fishtail braids... Just mix it up a bit :p

[Panth]

Not sure if you mean you'll be fed up of wearing plaits or if you'll be fed up of doing plaits...

But, as far as low-maintenance long-term hair care, microbraids seem to be quite popular. Do masses of tiny, tiny plaits before you go - you can do them over a couple of days or (if you can find someone gulible) get someone to do them for you. You can oil the hair before you plait it to help it stay neat. Then, you can treat the microbraids as you would normal hair - plait them, wear them loose, bun them, wash them, whatever.

Leave them in for the whole holiday and then carefully undo them when you get home. Give the hair a good wash and a good deep moisturising treatment.

Have fun! ^_^

[Firefox7275]

If you like to oil, shea butter and coconut oil both apparently have an SPF. The coconut oil shampoo method is only one step, could be of benefit? :) Sorry can't help with styles as my hair has never been longer than mid-length when camping.

[Firefox7275]

Sorry double post.

[Lunnafindel]

Don't worry. I go camping all the time and my hair isn't a problem. You do have to get used to the idea of putting it away though. Braids and buns can be very fast to do once you get used to them, and they really are convenient. I can't imagine you'll get bored of them - I've braided/bunned my hair my whole life and I'm not bored yet. There's so much you can do! Check out the updos in the articles and threads about "your favorite bun" or "go-to bun" or "secure bun" etc.
I generally do a braided bun - it's the neatest and easiest to brush afterwards.
Also, wash your hair mid-morning so it will dry fastest under the sun. (and don't wash it too often - it's a hassle and a lot of money, if the showers take quarters)
Have fun!!!

[julliams]

My friends children had their hair done in tiny little braids which she kept in whilst they went on a trip to mexico for several weeks. What ended up happening is that all the fallen hairs had nowhere to go so it looked like her children had headlice as all the little white bulbs on the ends of the fallen hairs were all through their hair. When she took the braids out she said it took hours and hours and handfuls of hair came out. She wondered if it was worth it in the end.

I know you said you were sick of braids but honestly you can't go wrong with a couple of heidi braids and one of those thick headbands all those outdoors people wear. I don't know what they are called but they are a really thick headband made of cloth that is usually stripey and I think it looks really cool as well as provides some protection to your parting which can get sunburnt when you are out and about.

It's kind of like this but actually the one I mean has a bit more bunchy fabric http://www.punchstock.com/asset_images/dv1984018

Ok this is what I meant http://www.etsy.com/listing/35259163/rainbow-headwrapdreadwrap I'm pretty sure you could make one of these pretty easily and you could have a couple in different colours.

[Heartwillfollow]

I love my snoods my hair is just at apl and its so easy to tuck into a snood and forget it, while I'm out on the property doing chores especially in the non stop high winds we have been having for a week now.. a velvet head hand grips my light cotton snoods and keeps them in place so I don't have to use bobby pins.. :) Have a great time camping :)

[danacc]

I realize you'll be sick of braids. Wear them anyway. I find them the best thing for protecting against tangles while out and about. I usually alternate between a french braid with the length tucked under or looped around my head, and a folded braid.



Also, something like the buff is both fun and functional: http://www.buffwear.com/pages/house-of-buff.php

[Climber]

A few years ago, as I recall, Dianyla posted about how she did her hair for an extended hiking trip. It wasn't microbraids as I understand them, but lots of small-ish braids she put in before the trip. She sort of "sewed" the ends with thread to fasten them. It looked great, and the damage was minimal. Though it took a lot of time to put in and take out, the upkeep during the trip was minimal.

And I concur with danacc's Buff suggestion!

[Lostsoule77]

While camping I always keep my hair in a braid. It's is the easiest style to do and guarantees you don't have many tangles. I've worn a french or regular english braid, sometimes bunned sometimes not. I just get up in the am, take out my braid from the day before, brush it and rebraid it until the next morning. While wearing this camping I've gone tubing (even whitewater tubing), hiking, whatever, and it's never been a problem. When showering or goin into water I unbraid, let the sun dry the hair a bit, detangle and rebraid. I know you said you'd get bored of wearing braids. I'm just usually too busy camping (it's a lot of work) and having fun to worry about wearing different styles. Just my:twocents:

[Sunsailing]

Also, something like the buff is both fun and functional: http://www.buffwear.com/pages/house-of-buff.php


I didn't know those existed.
Not really my style, but I think they'd be great while camping!

[Anje]

I'm another who says "wear them anyway" when you're sick of braids and buns. Chances are you're going to be busy camping and won't worry about your hair enough to be sick of anything other than actually putting it in the style.

Bring stuff to cover your head. Buffs are great, bandanas are good. I opt for a brimmed hat to keep sun out of my eyes and off my skin.

[noel11]

Ha ha. The real reason I'll get sick of braiding is because I'm horrific at it. And my hair is cut at a weird angle. You don't notice until you attempt to braid it. That's what I get for growing my hair out from a bob! But thanks for all the advice. I'll been attempting braids the last few days so I'll have a lot down by summer. I'm a camp counselor, so I figure I should learn to braid anyways so the girls I get all summer can get their hair braided as well. :D And so is a buff just a thick headband, or what exactly is it?

[Yamainu]

I also suggest the micro braids - it's how I did my hair every summer for a yearly camping trip. My hair was short enough that I could hold them back with a bandana, but if yours is longer I guess you could braid them or bun them.

It was a pain to put in (several of us girls would usually have "braiding parties" a few days before we left to help each other), but it was soooo worth it! You can shampoo if anything gungky gets in there, but usually WO is enough, since the bandana will keep most stuff out.

I looked like a lion (or an 80's hair model!) when I took them all out, though. All my hair stuck up! It was funny. Too bad it only lasted a few hours...

[Kat]

I'd be wary of micro-braids (at least for me) for two reasons...

My cousin did them on me a couple times when we were younger. Within a couple days, they started looking all frizzy and gross on top. Granted, they were done by a middle-schooler, so perhaps that was the reason, but I just found that all these little bits of hairs tended to pull out and such. It's part of the reason I've never done them since--no way am I sitting still for hours (and possibly paying a pretty penny to have someone do them) just to have them only look good for a day or two.

Also, I don't know about anyone else, but my hair tangles pretty well in a braid. I haven't done it in microbraids in over 15 years and my hair was much shorter then, but I wear my hair in one or two braids every day and if I don't keep on top of it and take it down/detangle it at least every other day, it tangles pretty well. If I put my hair in microbraids for more than a few days, and especially if I washed it and such with the braids in, I'm not sure I'd ever get them out--the braids might well turn into dreads! Something to think about for anyone whose hair is prone to tangliness.

[krissykins]

With practice, you'll find that braiding gets better. :) and you can always bobby pin the sticky-outy bits. Haha

[Mesmerise]

Camping is an excellent opportunity for a little benign neglect I think!

Yeah, it gets boring braiding or whatever every day... but I think you'll be so busy you probably won't think about it too much? A quick braid takes no time at all, and is fairly low maintenance.

I'd probably just wear a lot of ponytails if I was camping...It takes only a few seconds to put up a ponytail and then you can just forget it (if you have super long hair though, you may want to do more)!

[noel11]

Ha ha. I normally do just a pony tail. Not worth putting in the effort to do much more for school, and throughout a normal day it rats and falls out, and I'll double band it, put it in tight, redo it several times, brush it out, etc. and it's bad. Looks like I'll be braiding all summer! Ah well! It works. That way I can learn how to do others as well, and I'll be the cool counselor. :D

[Yamainu]

Something to think about for anyone whose hair is prone to tangliness.

Weird. My hair tangles in braids as well (the worst rats nests I ever I had was when I was sick, and left my hair in the same braid for three days) but I never had problems with the microbraids. Mine were always really tight though, so that might have had something to do with it.

[Panth]

Ha ha. The real reason I'll get sick of braiding is because I'm horrific at it. And my hair is cut at a weird angle. You don't notice until you attempt to braid it. That's what I get for growing my hair out from a bob! But thanks for all the advice. I'll been attempting braids the last few days so I'll have a lot down by summer. I'm a camp counselor, so I figure I should learn to braid anyways so the girls I get all summer can get their hair braided as well. :D And so is a buff just a thick headband, or what exactly is it?

I'll give you a sneaky tip. When plaiting, if you find you're more than a few moves into the plait and one section starts to end up considerably thinner than the other, making the plait uneven ... split a little section of hair off from another of the sections and put it into the small section - as you do when doing a fishtail braid, but only do it once.

It makes plaiting hair with funny tapers/layers so much easier. Just don't take too much from one section at any one time, or you will put a twist in the plait at that point. If there is a really big difference just keep moving little sections across each time the biggest and smallest section cross eachother, rather than moving one big section at once.

As for a buff. Yes, it is precisely that. A very wide stretchy headband, that will cover the entirety of your head, leaving your hair sticking out the back. They come in lots of colours/patterns and also in fleecy-lined for the winter. You can also use them as a lightweight neckwarmer.

[noel11]

^ Oh wow! Why did I never think of doing that? :D Thanks!

[spidermom]

Braids probably won't be as boring as you think. There isn't much opportunity for looking in the mirror while camping, so I always go with braids. I usually do 2 and leave them in as many days as I can. It's rather freeing not to be evaluating my appearance and trying to achieve a good-looking style.