I used to be a motorcycle riding long hair kind of guy... (well, I do
still ride a bike!) I really liked those long locks blowing in the
wind... especially that long pony tail that used to hang halfway down
my back! As guys who wear their hair long will testify, long hair
helps set you apart from the standard business tapered cut norm... and
being the center-of-the-line norm kind of guy just isn't me.

Having worn my hair longish most of my life I began getting ideas of
doing something completely different with my appearance. I don't know
where these thoughts came from, but I began getting ideas of going to
a barber and having everything buzzed off. What a crazy notion...
going from a normal looking haircut to near bald! It just didn't
figure. Where were these feelings coming from... what was the drive...
it just made no sense. I looked perfectly good in longish hair!

I have a full head of hair and whether it is longish or in a business
cut, I've never had anything extreme as a high and tight... it just
seemed too out of reach for a guy working in a corporate environment
who always wore his hair on the long side in trying to blend in with
all the other business cut kind of guys.

But you know, I began getting this passion to cut off all my hair!
Something excitingly new... like going to a bald looking buzz cut with
the sides and back shaved! Now THAT would be a haircut!  Problem is, I
never had the nerve to go to a barber shop with my longish hair and
ask for such a close cut. I did not know any haircut terminology;
never had heard the term "high and tight"; I didn't know anyone with
such a haircut and I did not see those haircuts around this area. You
go to barbershops around here and mostly what you see are guys getting
normal tapered business cuts and longer styled cuts. For me to ask a
barber for a shaved  high and tight buzz cut... I guess I was afraid,
for one, that the barber might talk me out of it telling me I was
crazy to go to that extreme; and for two, I didn' want to endure the
stares of waiting customers watching me go from longish hair to near
bald; and if I did go through with it what if I DID hate the shocking
after results!? Or what if the barber did a really bad job?

No, this was going to have to be something I was going to have to
tackle on my own... at my own pace, at my own timing and by my own
hand. It seemed so crazy and illogical... why would I, with a full
head of long hair, want a bald cut? It certainly was not logical but
the desire for such a haircut experience just kept growing. I really
thought I was weird... maybe the ONLY person on the planet who
fantasized about getting his long hair buzzed to the skin. Figuring
that I WAS weird, I told no one about my passion to buzz my hair and
never dreamed there was anyone else that felt the way I did. So I
certainly did not think to look on the internet and had no idea that
haircut sites existed or other people who loved short hair cuts
existed. I just singularly had to deal with this on my own. Even so...
a bald buzz is what I wanted and the desire only grew stronger with
time... I hate to admit how distracted I was in my daily affairs
thinking about my big haircut...it seems so silly. But the day finally
came to where I had had enough wanting and waiting... I went to a
local barber supply store and bought a Wahl Balding 000000 Clipper...

Now, the Wahl balding clipper comes with no attachments... it's not
your home family barbering clipper kit; It has only one purpose and
that is to buzz you bald to the skin with a 000000 blade.

So, I get my new clipper to the house and you would have thought I was
about to get shot up into space or something... I was all excited and
apprehensive at the same time. Being single, I didn't have any
explaining to do to anyone at home so I grabbed a lawn chair, a mirror
and extension cord and set about the task to shorn my locks and take
on a whole new look!

Ha, I could hardly even hold the mirror still, I was shaking so hard!
Getting started was the hardest part... I could always chicken out
before starting but once a bald streak was buzzed along the side of my
head there would be no turning back! With heart pounding, I turned on
the clippers; they buzzed to life and I put the clippers to my left
temple and felt the cold vibrating blade buzzing against my skin. Here
we go... no stopping, now! Watching in the mirror, I pressed the
clipper blade against my head and moved the clippers straight back and
rounded the turn at the back of my head... whoa... mounds of hair fell
from the side of my head revealing a two inch wide bald streak of pale
skin. What was I doing... Well, there was no turning back now...

The next pass was lower... just above ear level. There went the
sideburns as the clippers disappeared from view behind the ears.
Wow... what a different kind of feeling while experiencing a breeze on
my bare scalp! Since I was going for bald, I didn't need to see what I
was doing... just let the clippers do the work. When all I saw was an
expanse of bald skin on the left side of my head I quickly went to
work on the right side. I just wanted to get past this hard part of
looking SO bad! In just a few passes the right side of my head was
bald and then I went to work on the back. No tapers needed there,
either... I was going for bald so I just placed the clippers at the
nape of the neck and started straight up the back stopping at the
crown. My, what an exhilarating experience feeling all that hair
falling over my hand on it's way to the ground. And all that cool
breeze on my head! I worked the clippers around the back until they
met the buzzed area I cut on both sides until the deed was done... I
was bald from the left side all the way around to the right side!
Well, I was halfway there... all I had to deal with, now, was this
shaggy top!

I dampened my mop on top and combed it straight up... now for the fun
part! A flattop! Holding my head level and watching carefully in the
mirror, I held the clippers over the center of my head and made a
straight pass back towards the crown. Seeing a nice looking landing
strip, I made pass number two and then three and several more until it
was all gone... there I was... a near bald flattop! I feathered out
the sides where the flattop meets the sides and thinking I was done,
headed for the shower. I could hardly believe my new look! I always
shave my face when I'm showering and when I was slapping on the shave
cream, I got this wild idea to put it on the buzzed sides and back of
my head... I was going to go ALL the way... a SHAVED HnT! So, I did
the deed... first time ever in my life that my scalp has felt a razor!

Well, out of the shower and looking in the mirror, I took a good look
at my HnT flattop... hmmm... well, I was a bit distressed. Oh, I loved
the HnT and no regrets there... but the sharp outer edges of the
flattop terminating at the top of the shaved HnT gave the appearance
that reminded me of the beginnings of a mohawk... and working in a
corporate office and living in the Bible Belt, there is no way I could
go that radical... so back to the clippers! I rounded out the sides of
the flattop to give it a more even appearance from the front and what
I ended up with is what you might call a "shaved HnT #1 buzz"... a far
cry from the longish hair I was sporting earlier in the day!

The haircut was fantastic... I'm glad I did it rather than having a
barber do it... and I think I did a good job! I wish I had photos of
the haircut but I did not know there was an interested haircut
community on the web to share the experience with... It wasn't until
after the cut was a done deal that I decided to do a Google search on
haircuts to see if I had done mine right and found there were haircut
web sites, bulletin boards, chat rooms, etc. for others like me who
are passionate about the haircuts and especially very short hair! And
I finally learned the proper terminology for the kind of haircut I was
passionate about all along in having:  a shaved high and tight #1 buzz
cut! I do have photos of my new haircut and even took some showing
myself getting a trim.

I use the mirror to level the top and feather the sides.

No mirror is needed for doing the back. Since there is no taper, the
clippers can ride on the skin all the way to the crown.

The Wahl Balding Clipper does an excellent job is providing a bald
cut. After you are through, it feels like a razor shave cut that has
grown out a day or so. If you have to have your head perfectly smooth,
then you'll have to use a blade or razor. But if you want a quick bald
shave with a clipper and don't mind it feeling like 220 grade
sandpaper, the balding clipper is a great tool.

My last and final step in perfecting the shaved HnT buzz cut is to
sport a deep tan all over the noggin. Of course, the day I made the
cut there was a white shadow where all the pale skin had been covered
by hair. But with spring time under way and living in Texas, it won't
be long before my outdoor life style will bring color to my mostly
bald head and I'll look quite like the sporting kind of guy that I am!

As to shaving myself completely bald... maybe some day... not ready
for that, yet. I love the looks of a shaved HnT. But the days of long
hair are over!