For fork fans

[Fiorentina]

I think we should talk about forks and prongs.
How many prongs should a fork have? Good question, isn`t it?
Of course different hair, different buns have different needs, and sometimes the owner of the hair and bun has another view or dream. We all new that. Nothing new about it.
So, tell us about you, how many prongs are optimal for you? How many do you prefer? When are there too many prongs for you?

For me, two prongs don't give much more support than a stick. Well a little bit more perhaps.
I find the three prongs very good for me, as they give my bun an optimally secure hold.
Four prongs definitely give my bun more hold than 3 prongs which is nice too and sometimes absolutely great if I need an extra hold.
More than four prongs are too much for me, my bun, and my taste.
Regards
Fiorentina

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Most of my forks are three but I love four prongs equally, such wonderful hold.

[neko_kawaii]

Hold entirely depends on bun construction. I have no preference for number of tines, I can make a bun that will work with the fork in question.

[embee]

Any more than 2 prongs and the fork is bigger than the bun, alas. But that's where I am.

[SandyBottom]

Ooh, good discussion! Currently have a 2 prong and a double pointed knitting needle that I bent and have been considering getting a 3 or 4 prong one. I love the look and variety of wood ones but know they wouldn't be very practical for me.

[Fornarina]

Hi Fiorentina, nice and interesting discussion.

I have voted 2 and 3 prongs, because that is, what I use mostly.

But actually I see it like @neko_kawaii, it depends on the hair style and the length of the prongs. I have Forks from 2-6 prongs and I have hairstyles working for every of them. With more prongs, you have to make more preparations to give each tine its proper bed to snug into. For this sake, I use to feather up the loops, if they are only two of them, that every tine gets its own loop when being inserted and coming out again. So you avoid having very wide stretched loops, who have to contain all the prongs at once. With this method you also can use two-prong forks, where the prongs are very much apart from each other.

If I don't want to make such preparation efforts, I just choose one tine to hold/thread up the loop and one to get out of the loop on the other side. It doesn't have to be necessarily the same tine for both sides. The rest of the tines just go into the loop somewhere and comes out somewhere without special finger guidance.

regards
Fornarina

[Fiorentina]

Hi Fiorentina, nice and interesting discussion.

I have voted 2 and 3 prongs, because that is, what I use mostly.

But actually I see it like @neko_kawaii, it depends on the hair style and the length of the prongs. I have Forks from 2-6 prongs and I have hairstyles working for every of them. With more prongs, you have to make more preparations to give each tine its proper bed to snug into. For this sake, I use to feather up the loops, if they are only two of them, that every tine gets its own loop when being inserted and coming out again. So you avoid having very wide stretched loops, who have to contain all the prongs at once. With this method you also can use two-prong forks, where the prongs are very much apart from each other.

If I don't want to make such preparation efforts, I just choose one tine to hold/thread up the loop and one to get out of the loop on the other side. It doesn't have to be necessarily the same tine for both sides. The rest of the tines just go into the loop somewhere and comes out somewhere without special finger guidance.

regards
Fornarina

Thank you, Fornarina, for your explanations and pictorial descriptions. That sounds very interesting to me.
Personally, I always place the prongs in the bun based on how I think they are needed for a nice hold and it looks lovely too. This procedure works very well for me.
The reason why I don't use forks with more than 4 prongs is that forks with 5 or more prongs are not pleasing me with the allover appearance as a fork. I truly don’t like them at all and so I don't bring them into my buns.
Regards
Fiorentina

[pumpkinsage]

My hair forks vary between 2, 3 and 4. I find that 3 is perfect for me and gives me great hold. I do like my 4 pronged ones but they're just a little harder to get in my hair. My buns tend to be on the medium to tight side because my hair is only slightly longer than APL, medium density and hard to keep in place. My 3 pronged forks are easiest to get in!

[Shorty89]

It depends a bit on the day. Freshly washed, my hair needs a four pronged fork to stay up. When it's really dirty, two might do the job. But overall, I find that four prongs are ideal. They hold everything without pulling.

[sapphire-o]

It depends on what I used to wash my hair. Shampoo bars produce rougher hair and I can use almost anything. Liquid shampoo without conditioner required 3 or 4 prongs. With conditioner I can just forget about forks or sticks. Two of my family members have curly hair with almost no slip. I can put their hair up with a tiny little stick. It's the perfect hair for hairtoys.