Shaving before a patrol

Men:

I was just shaving before a patrol tonight, and was wondering if I am alone in doing so. I do it because I figure that I should give a presentable image to anyone I might meet in a friendly manner, and because being clean shaven will cause a punch to roll off of and away from my face easier in a fight. Less hair = less friction in my book, and the less time the punch stays on my face, the less time it has to transfer its kinetic energy from the person's arm to my skull.

I see from various avatars that some of you wear beards or goatees. Does it worry you that you may be recognized out on the street when not in costume because of this facial hair?

Shaving doesn't help with taking a punch.

Okay, wellI still think it's important to do if you don't already have a beard or goatee. I want to present a clean image to anyone I meet, not like I just rolled out of bed and put on some weird clothing. Fellows with beards and goatees can present clean images, too, I just think shaving is the way I personally prefer to do it.

Also, you didn't answer me about having a beard making you more recognizable, but if I recall correctly, you sport a beard and no mask. So that's probably not a big issue with you.

Yes I come home from work and shower and shave patrol or not. I agree on the image thing. I even hide if I decide to smoke my pipe while on patrol. I just figure that I smoke and enjoy a single malt scotch or cold beer, but Hazmat doesn’t do any of that. I also dont swear when around anyone but The Rev. Hazmat is there to be an advertisement and draw attention to a cause so his image needs to be positive.

What about a clean shaven secret identity and a fake mustache hero identity? And by mustache I mean beard. It'd be harder for someone to recognize you.

Interesting idea! I just hate spirit gum. I use it for my mask, but that's it.

Strider, you should take a physics class sometime. It would rock your world.

I can grow facial hair fast, and most people see me clean shaven because of work, so no, I don't shave.

Zimmer wrote:

Strider, you should take a physics class sometime. It would rock your world.

What makes you say that?

Strider wrote:

and because being clean shaven will cause a punch to roll off of and away from my face easier in a fight. Less hair = less friction in my book, and the less time the punch stays on my face, the less time it has to transfer its kinetic energy from the person's arm to my skull.

Unless I am mistaken this is the statement that prompted Zimmer's comment.

I understand where you are coming from and it seems only logical. But its sort of like the logic that tells you a very large and heavy stone dropped from the same height and at the same time as a much smaller and lighter stone will result in to heavier stone landing first. Although intuitive in nature, and seemingly common sense; it is incorrect. The larger stone will land with greater force than the smaller stone, but they will strike the ground at the same time. The larger stone is pulled harder by the force of gravity but it is not pulled any faster.

With the model of a person being punched in the face, you have a propelled not launched mass (the fist and the leveraging of a variable percentage of body weight depending on how much inertia can be generated at the point of anchor, propelled by muscular actuation (a variable in itself) articulated through the frame or skeleton) moving with a fixed maximum amount of energy, encountering a mass of inertial variables (your head).

The amount of friction or cushioning created by stubble is negligible at best when it comes to the instant transfer of energy (the punch landing) between the two. Instead this would be effected by angle and deflection, and not the amount of time after energy transfer that the propelled mass remained in contact with the targeted mass.

Not that I am trying to insult you by calling your head an inertial mass.

Ah. I just used to know some boxers who swore by shaving before a match, so that's why I have always shaved before a patrol. Also, it's okay, my head sure is a mass of ... well, something.

Also, I am not a Rhode Scholar or a physics student, so thank you for the education and please pardon my inexperience.

I like this man. Admits his faults humbly. Does not claim to be something he is not.

Keep this attitude, and you'll go far, Strider.

-Wolf

Strider, You do realize I was just messing with you (and Zimmer a little) right?

I've heard that some boxers shave before a fight because repeated impact a to fuzzy face can result in excessive ingrown hairs. Seems plausible enough.

Gadgetastic! wrote:

I've heard that some boxers shave before a fight because repeated impact a to fuzzy face can result in excessive ingrown hairs. Seems plausible enough.

That actually makes a lot of sense.

However, this topic got me rather curious, so I did a little research and this is what I got:

Many of the boxers who do shave see it as a sort of pre-match ritual.

also, there apparently have traditionally been rules in pro boxing that regulate how long and thick you can grow facial hair.

In truth, the there's probably an equal amount of boxers who don't shave as do. Many who do shave find facial hair to be uncomfortable during intense training.

As for the shaving to reduce resistance: apparently that's an MMA thing. Many MMA fighters will shave their bodies before a match because they think it will make them more slippery and able to get out of holds easier, though it is not scientifically proven to be possible.

In boxing, it is a superstition that growing a thick beard is a trick to hide the chin and provide a cushion from impact. Even though there's no way that could work, many see a thick beard as a weakness, meaning that you can't take a hit. That's the basis for many regulations against facial hair.

In the end, however, it mostly comes down to preference and comfort.

Hazmat wrote:

Strider, You do realize I was just messing with you (and Zimmer a little) right?

Sure, but I did learn something, nonetheless.

Thanks, Wolf.

Also, it's interesting to read all this stuff about boxers. Maybe that's why my friends who used to box were all about shaving before a fight.

Reminds me of a story.

A mother was putting the holiday ham in the oven. Her daughter saw this and noticed that the ends of the ham had been cut off. She asked her mother, "Why do you cut the ends of the ham before you cook it?"

Her mother responded, "It's how my mother taught me to cook a ham."

The daughter went to ask her Grandmother, "Why do you cut the ends off the ham before you cook it?"

The Grandmother said, "Because that is how my mother taught me to cook a ham."

The daughter went to her Great Grandmother and asked, "Why do you cut the ends off the ham before you cook it?"

The Great Grandmother looked at the young girl and said, "Because the old fashion ovens were so small a full ham wouldn't fit."



How much of what we do is done simply because that's the way it's always been done?

If your face is slicker it may make it more difficult to land a solid punch. If you're skilled at deflecting force, having smooth skin may be somewhat helpful.

I know these same boxers I was referring to also had vaseline rubbed on their face to make their opponents' punches slide off their face easier. Sure, they still took force from the blow, but it was lessened by the vaseline.

Zimmer wrote:

If your face is slicker it may make it more difficult to land a solid punch. If you're skilled at deflecting force, having smooth skin may be somewhat helpful.

Right. Absolutely. But the energy delivered has nothing to do with how long the fist stays on the face after the punch lands. Unless I am gravely mistaken about a great many things.

If someone got close enough to be able to punch you in the face then you probably have bigger things to worry about outside of how much facial hair you have...

Strider wrote:

I see from various avatars that some of you wear beards or goatees. Does it worry you that you may be recognized out on the street when not in costume because of this facial hair?

Dude, in your profile pic you're wearing a small domino mask and a hat.

Just sayin'.



Overall I think this is an example of worrying too much about an issue, like a "do RLSH's take sugar in their coffee?" kinda thing.

I shave my face and head thoroughly before anything that I consider "a performance," which isn't really a patrol issue.

It took me a few days to think of how to respond to this one without sounding insulting to strider , he seems like a real guy and cool .


As a former boxer I can safely say that in a carefully refereed fight , with strict rules , 3 miunite rounds , where you know who you are going to fight , you know intimate details about how he fights , you've been training 70 hours a week for that one fight and you will probibly be punched in the face hundreds of times . Damn straight being clean shaven will make a difference . Not much of one but when 2 closely matched men box a small thing like that can make a difference . That's why I can't ever remember seeing a fighter with a full beard .

On the streets however if you are punched in the face a dozen times it means the fighter is better than you and without the gloves or a ref to break it up he could prolly kill you . The beard friction wouldn't make any difference .

My facial hair is needed for my wrestling job, so I do not shave it for any patrol reasons.

granted, I don't make much effort to mask my identity while on patrol, so shaving is not a big concern for me.

The Reverend wrote:

strider, he seems like a real guy and cool...

Yep.