I guess a picture of my own Great Grandfather and family inspires me to have a bit of a beard (no, niether Great Grandma nor none of the girls had beards). If Mom or Grandma could see me these days they might comment about me looking " wild and wooly and full of fleas..never been combed above the knees". They would smile when they said this though. Mom never could figure why I seemed to have magnetic blood rather than dirt or wood based.

Thomas, I agree. 9th -10th century is indeed interesting time and something I enjoy learning about. Forging in charcoal and using old steel or wrought is good for your heart. You will occasionally smell a bit of beard burning. No matter.

in this world of individuality , it is good sometimes to hide within a good old fashioned solid stereotype and the Fat bearded blacksmith is one that fits me so well .I shall stick with it.
you guys are lucky state side the Uk is almost beard free (very very rare) I went the the worshipful company of blacksmiths dinner and hardly a beard in site . I mean .... Really!

i feel like developing one but then i need to attract a hot young woman who appreciates it, i think that is somewhat unlikely...

I still have to wait a few years to be able to grow something that can be called a proper beard
but when i get older i will defiantly have a full beard

in this world of individuality , it is good sometimes to hide within a good old fashioned solid stereotype and the Fat bearded blacksmith is one that fits me so well .I shall stick with it.
you guys are lucky state side the Uk is almost beard free (very very rare) I went the the worshipful company of blacksmiths dinner and hardly a beard in site . I mean .... Really!

Probably not that many real 'smiths there either

john! shame on you

basher - thats exactly what i mean - its a lovely stereotype you wear it well! i have to disagree about beard free uk though, there are quite a few around where i live, although i must admit most of them are only there as an alternative to bothersome personal care, rather than a definate decision to sport a styled beard... the debate rumbles on....

i feel like developing one but then i need to attract a hot young woman who appreciates it, i think that is somewhat unlikely...

I don't know about over there, but I've never had a problem finding girls that love the beard. I've had them approach me wanting to touch it. Great ice breaker. I don't trim mine at all, just brush it out on a semi daily basis.

Last time I shaved was 27 January of 1963 That was the day I got discharged from The USMC. I don't own a razor or a neck-tie.Don'tknow why anyone would want to scrape thier face with a sharp object everyday. Seems like a waste of time.

Grew my first (and remaining beard) in 1977 while doing a winter dig (archaeology) in New York state (-45 degrees). Had it ever since except for a brief period when I had to shave it off because of work requirements. It hides my ugly face.

Only a goatee these days. In a past life I was a forester in Idaho and Montana and a beard was part of the job. I would stop trimming at the start of hunting season and not start again until after Easter.

in the summer i have a full mutton chops and a goatee in the winter i let them grow together
i used to have a full on afro as well but thinning hair and getting my head bumped the door to a annealing oven (900*f) when the person i was working with shut it a little to quickly and subsequently setting my hair on fire has enraged me to get rid of the afro and go with a inch or so of hair from cheeks to whats left on top

_{See picture on left. Bearded for 42 years except for one shave that revealed the evil that lay beneath. I grew it back straight away. In the 70s I sometimes shaved just my chin.}

Clean shaven could not even grow a soul patch if I wanted to let a loan a full beard.

I wish my job would allow a beard. I only get about two weeks worth of growth before having to scrap it off, and go back to slavery. My company has the 'respirator clause', but we don't have any respirators. Makes sense to me. Pffff.

Its crap like that that make me want to rebel and grow out some wicked chops.

my beard is entirely transient, based on my waning enthusiasm toward shaving, and my waxing desire to be allowed in the house.
i have two 'hairy' brothers, and there is no way i would be even remotely be allowed to grow it! i tried mutton chops, napoleonic sailor style, and i was nearly divorced in the bofore i shaved them off!!! it was for one weekend for a re-enactment event.

Unfortunately the army doesn't allow the growth of a beard. Upon retirement I will be resembling a viking with full beard and long hair.

After I retired from the U.S. Army, I grew a beard.  Once my wife, while giving me a hair cut ask when I was going to "shave that thing off".  My reply was - "When the army recalls me to active duty"!  She has neve ask about is since and a razor has not touched my face since I retired.

 

Also I feel - If God had intended for man to be clean shaven, he'd never put a beard on our face.

Full beard mostly grey and short, I refer to my present hair style as the tennis ball look, all of it is trimmed to 1/4" beard, stash and top of the head, try to trim around the edges to neaten thing up. I ask my wife to give the old goat a show clip;-) I like the look and it is virtually maintenance free on a daily basis, seems to all grow out to an inch long in just a few weeks so I have to run the clippers over it a lot.  Used to have long wavy red hair the girls were all jealous of, and went really nice with early period costumes... My wife misses the long hair, and would like for me to grow it back out, maybe later when I am not so busy...   Lots of people say I "look" like a blacksmith, form follows function... and having some "big guns" doesn't hurt;-)  I did have one lady panic when I walked out of the truck, she saw my forearms and though I had been injured, and that they were "swollen" I was pumped up but it was just Popeye forearms.

I remain clean shaven since it is a requirement of that thing which sustains me and mine.   That pesky day job.   Weekends I rarely shave.   On vacation I usually end up with a stash / Goatee whatever that is.

When I worked in security, we weren't allowed to have a beard because they considered it a disguise.  I hated having to shave all the time!

 

Have I set my beard on fire?  Sure have, and mighty glad it was there to catch the hot metal instead of my skin.

A dozen of years ago or so I had a jaw operation. The jaw swelled and became blue, green and yellow.

I looked as if I had been beaten in a brawl  :( . I preferred to look unshaven so I stopped shaving. I now have a full beard trimmed to 1/2".

Considering my being a grandfather and hobby blacksmith I am going to stick to it.

Have a nice new year by the way

Göte

I tried the beard several years ago.  I made me look a lot older than I was.  So away it went.  Now that I am about to hit 60, I prefer to keep the "younger" look.

 

What I found interesting was the variety of color in the beard.  It was as though my entire genetic makeup manifested itself in my beard.

In March of 1974, I was 19 years old, ... and had only been shaving for a few years.

 

While blasting my shiney new Yamaha down a 1 lane gravel road, ( at, lets just say, "excessive" speed ) ... I met a car.

 

With nowhere else to go, I took to the ditch, ... which went OK until I got past the car, ... but ultimately, ended in a "face plant" in the gravel road.

 

By the time the "road rash" was healed, I had a nice full beard, ... and 40 years later, ... I still do.

 

 

( It's a different color now. :rolleyes: )

 

 

 

.

A few years ago I shaved my beard off after 12 years.  My wife had never seen my chin.  She still hasn't seen my upper lip, nor have I since I was 14.  Now I've got the big 'tache, which I'm happy to keep.  I'll wear a handkercheif over my face sometimes to protect it, like when forge welding, and I never forge with wax it in (no need to put anything more flammable in it near fire!)

My wife told me 19 yrs ago. welcome you can stay as long as you like but grow a beard and your time is up! I took the hint. Didn't like a beard anyway I was raised in a military family, dad was a Lt. Col. in AF, short hair, close shave. my brother has neither.