So, why do you have a beard?

[Jeremy]

Because I don't like the way I look without it. Ever since I was able to grow a beard I've had one, except for the decade I spent in the Navy.

[sayheyjeff]

Started my beard in June of 1969. Now I can’t remember why.

Jeff

[Brucebubs]

Interesting reading ... can you guys not have a beard in the US Navy?

It's allowed here in Australia and I think UK too.

I believe you have to ask permission to grow one and if it's not up to a good presentable appearance in a certain time limit then you're told no ... shave it off!

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Interesting reading ... can you guys not have a beard in the US Navy?

It's allowed here in Australia and I think UK too.

I believe you have to ask permission to grow one and if it's not up to a good presentable appearance in a certain time limit then you're told no ... shave it off!

I think in the British navy it's also forbidden to just have a moustache. The beard has to go with it, I think.

[Jeremy]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Interesting reading ... can you guys not have a beard in the US Navy?

It's allowed here in Australia and I think UK too.

I believe you have to ask permission to grow one and if it's not up to a good presentable appearance in a certain time limit then you're told no ... shave it off!

Active duty US Navy cannot unless one has a waiver aka a "no-shave chit" for medical reasons. The reasoning is that facial hair would obstruct the formation of an air-tight seal when sailors must wear face masks.

[seannx]

I don’t like shaving. Keep my beard reasonably short. Looks good, and is easy to maintain. Everyone in my family likes it, too.

[KevWind]

I don't actually ---Had one in the early 70's,, but found it was too hot and sweaty in the summer, and collected ice in the winter. Shaved it off after about a year and 1/2 and never looked back

[Silurian]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I think in the British navy it's also forbidden to just have a moustache. The beard has to go with it, I think.

Sounds like a good idea. A moustache with no beard should only be worn in two specific circumstances.

1) If you're Tom Selleck

2) If accompanied by a mullet haircut.

Of course this doesn't take into account Freddie Mercury, who looked epic with a tash, but then he was Freddie Mercury.

[Gee Man]

I couldn't grow decent facial hair to save my life until I was in my early 30s. I was snowmobiling with a friend and broke my ankle, which had me bed bound for a couple of weeks. I didn't bother shaving that whole time and when it was over, I actually had a reasonable beard. Well, that was close to 20 years ago now and I have never looked back. Aside from the true convenience of not having to shave, it gives me somewhat of a biker/badass look that I find keeps that riff-raff at bay. I'm not necessarily the most social belle at the ball, so it works for me.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Silurian

Sounds like a good idea. A moustache with no beard should only be worn in two specific circumstances.

1) If you're Tom Selleck

2) If accompanied by a mullet haircut.

Of course this doesn't take into account Freddie Mercury, who looked epic with a tash, but then he was Freddie Mercury.

Or Timothy Dalton:

https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/53/70...quotes-i14.jpg

or the Brigadier:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R0H1ql5V_W...gadier%2B1.jpg

but not:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/37/98/49/3...69ebdc2643.jpg

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Interesting reading ... can you guys not have a beard in the US Navy?

It's allowed here in Australia and I think UK too.

I believe you have to ask permission to grow one and if it's not up to a good presentable appearance in a certain time limit then you're told no ... shave it off!

From USNI.org
The beard ban was introduced in 1985. Out of a 247-year naval history, 37 years have been beardless.

As a US Sailor, I grew mine the week my son was born in 1982. When they were banned in '85, a bunch of us got together at a party to shave half off for inebriated mug shots, most of us keeping the 'stache. After that, I absolutely HATED shaving my chin daily until I retired 12 years later, and I let it grow weekends and on leave.

Just before pulling the Navy plug, I found a trifling, forgettable pipsqueak of a Lieutenant Commander studying a snapshot under the plexi on my desk (GF and me laughing with friends on a whitewater rafting trip). He was well-known in the squadron for visiting spiteful, petty revenge upon those he outranked - probably bullied as a child. He ordered me to remove the picture because I had a nice dark brown two-week beard going. LOL.

Anyhow, I can tell you exactly what date/time I last scraped my chin with a razor blade. It was over a quarter-century ago, and I became a civilian 4 hours later. I don't mind shaving my cheeks and neck (takes 45 seconds in a hot shower), and it's super-easy to keep a neatly trimmed goatee/moustache with a #2 guard on electric clippers. Just no chin or upper lip.

Friends/family all like it. Besides, the gray tends to impart a hint of wisdom (which I may or may not actually possess).

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Or Timothy Dalton:

or the Brigadier:

Or Clark Gable.

[tbeltrans]

It was, and is, my "back to the world" beard. For a few years after I got "back to the world" (a term we used to refer to coming home from Vietnam), I would wake up at night from being back there in a dream, and it was my beard that reminded me that I wasn't. I still have it, though it is trimmed much nicer and has been for many years.

Tony

[Photojeep]

I've had a mustache since 1976. Well, I called it a mustache anyway.

One day about 15-20 years ago my wife asked me if I'd ever grow a goatee. I thought about it for a minute and said, "Sure, why not?"

I've had it ever since.

Best,
PJ

[rokdog49]

In 1971, I grew a moustache in basic training in the army…that was allowed and it was the beginning of my facial hair adventure. I thought it made me appear more manly.
After the service, I kept the moustache which evolved into a Geraldo Rivera-style deal, or so I was told . I kept that for a few years and only once did I shave it.
When I did, upon seeing me , my wife and daughter laughed at me. I quickly grew it back.
Around 1975, I grew a full, dark brown beard. It looked dang good. My wife and I took a vacation trip to Jamaica where my full thick beard caused me to be held in high esteem by the Jamaican men. They informed me that my awesome beard was an indication of supreme masculinity and power. That worked for me.
As the years went by, the hair on my head disappeared so I shaved it but kept the beard. I was often called one of the “Smith Brothers” …you know the guys on the cough drops box.
As time has gone on, I vacillate back and forth from a full beard to a moderate goatee, to an outrageous goatee. The facial hair remains.
It’s the chin I never got from my heredity and I need it.

Besides, I hate shaving.