(09-14-2010, 05:16 PM)hollisterco Wrote: jrob u seem to be quite the full cap enthusiast, why do u preffer fulls so much over smaller toppers given, what ive so far heard, that they can be trickier to manage the ends from lifting, what are the benefits of a topper that u like? theres this guy here somewhere who used alot of concealer on his rapidly thinning brown curly hair and finally ordered a full cap, the hair looked awesome and i doubt he would of been able to achieve it with only a top

There are both positives and negatives to switching to a full cap, but for most guys that have thinning side hair and/or weak temple points the pros outweigh the cons by big margin.

As I mentioned, there are still a lot of myths that are being perpetuated primarily by people who have never even worn a full cap. The idea that a full cap is more prone to lifting and a lot more detectable to touch is not exactly true.

I suppose that technically there is more edge area on a full cap which could increase the potential for detection by touch, but this is somewhat negated by a couple of things:

1) With a full cap the edges that could potentially be felt are at the nape and temples. With a partial unit the edge runs around your balding pattern. If your base material lifts with either type of unit, you run the risk of it being detected. The idea that a partial unit is much less detectable to touch just isn't true. In the nape area it IS a little trickier to get a good transition, but with the right attachment this isn't much more of an issue than keeping the base attached well with a partial.

2) Since there are no seams that run around the crown of your head, the areas on the sides are actually much LESS detectable to touch. It isn't likely that someone is going to be running their hands right above your ears. With a partial unit your base needs to be well attached or it will most likely be felt. I should know, it happened to me when I was wearing a partial unit.

The point is, both a full and a partial are detectable if the base lifts. With a full cap it can be tricky to get a smooth nape transition but not impossible. Natural hair against base material does help the transition, so a partial unit wins in that regard, but the fact that there are no seams or transitions around the crown gives the full cap the "edge" (no pun intended) in that area.

There are several other benefits to going with a full cap, but the main one is that you don't have to worry about color matching and blending. The biggest benefit to a partial is that if your side and back hair are still good you have more flexibility to do "fade" type cuts and other styles that require very, very short hair in lower areas.