I've been cutting my own hair with clippers since i was 14 and have been hoping to do the same with a piece. I'm capable of cutting it with scissors also, just prefer clipper haircuts.

i currently have very advanced mpb, the top is basically gone save for a thin patch at the front. had planned on transitioning to wearing from concealers over the last year, but life events have delayed this.
--
here's some personal details about my hair and haircut, you can skip it if you don't care:
my standard haircut for the last few years has been a 6-8 guard on top, styled in a way that is random and spiky on top towards the crown, more forward and a little to the side towards the front. the bangs cut even shorter almost exposing the hairline. a 6 guard is just long enough to allow me to spike it a little. an 8 guard is almost too long due to the wave etc of my hair, but anyway prefer the 6.


a couple of months ago i got a full on buzzcut for the first time in a few years. I went as short as a 1 on the sides and 2 on top. Oh boy, did i miss how good that looks and feels. I'd say the #2 all over buzzcut had mostly been my favorite hairstyle growing up.

after cutting it down this short on the sides, i see that i've now thinned out quite a lot at the nape, under the temples/above my sideburns and around the ears, and that hair in those places isn't growing back as fast as the rest. guess i'm headed for full cap territory and absolutely mortified at this given my extreme preference for very short haircuts.
No disrespect to the full cap guys. They look great from what i see here for the slightly longer styles.
--


I've read through all the various sort of 'how short can you go' threads past, and although there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer yet i don't want to retread exactly.

I'm basically wondering if anyone cuts their system hair with like a 6 to an 8 guard.
I got the vague impression that a poster here, Xeon005, uses an 8 guard on system hair based on one of his posts? And had talked about buzzing down an old unit grade by grade until it looked unnatural as an experiment (anyone ever try this in the end)?

I'm eager to hear from Xeon and others who do cut their system hair to a #8 or shorter with clippers. I've heard of some using 10 and 12 guards on system hair, but i'm not as interested in that (i use scissors when i want my hair that long anyway).

I realize you do it with the system attached- i'm obv. more comfortable cutting my hair that way anyhow.

I get that theoretically your own hair can be however short but that it's tough to blend at extreme short lengths, and have seen some photos of toppers with short back and sides, and that's not really what i'm asking about.

Thanks in advance for any help. totally love this forum. I don't think i could ever make the jump without it.

*EDIT: kind of a different question, but i'm also curious to hear from anyone who already cut your own hair before you wore hair, especially short, on how it differs from cutting in your own system when attached to your head.

*EDIT 2: also, i assumed that anyone who uses clippers would already know this, but to clarify for anyone who may not know, the numbers 6, 8 and so on refer to the attachments or 'guards' you put on hair clippers, by 8th's of an inch, with a #1 guard leaving a uniform 1/8" length of hair on your head, a #2 guard leaving a uniform 2/8" and so on up to the #8 guard which gives a uniform 1" long cut. In the UK (and i think also the EU?) these are called 'grade 1, grade 2' and so on... here in the US it's usually called a "#2" or "2 guard"
Although the #8 guard is usually the biggest and gives the longest cut of the standard attachments there are supplemental guards available that cut the hair to 1.25" and 1.5" (#10 and #12 respectively). these are made of a softer rubber and bend more, and have to be used more gently and carefully. whereas the standard guards are very stiff and can be pressed down onto the scalp pretty firmly.
all this info has probably been posted on the forum a couple of times, this may or may not be a more comprehensive explanation of 'those numbers' than most, but thought i should add it here as a courtesy.