Braided Hair

I have a pretty weird question about braided hair. Everything else I need to know about it is easily researched... what I want to know is (roughly) how many braids a person can fit on their head. I'm talking about braids that are the size the woman in this article is pictured sporting.

The braids in question are for a teenage boy with a full head of hair (not sure yet what hair type he has, though, if that matters). The number is important because it's for a made-up tradition in a fantasy novel and this guy will always know the exact number of braids he has. (The number changes throughout the story due to cutting, but I don't know the starting number.)

I'm thinking I could just braid my own hair and count to get a rough idea... but I was hoping someone who braids frequently would have a good guesstimate that could save me some time.

I'm currently guessing... 60ish? Help?

Thanks everyone... case closed fairly easily!

WillSauger said:

Just create a reference point and show reactions.

"Most boys have 58 braids by your time. Wait, how many do you have?"
"72."
"What? No way!"


I had long hair, and I am a guy and I can't tell you this answer. It depends on how tight you braid, how long the hair is, where you braid and such.

So it would be best to create a reference point.

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Yup, that's pretty much what I have to do, I guess! I was afraid that if I said everyone gets their hair braided into 60 braids at a certain age some reader might know better and think the braids are impossibly small (my husband guessed half that number for the size I was thinking of). However, maybe that's best... people can imagine the braids as whatever size they want.

Unimportant said:

It really depends. I had microbraids done once and had about 200 braids, but they were very small, and I have a freaking lot of hair.

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Wow. That must have taken forever. Good to know!

sunandshadow said:

Any number between 20 and 100 is plausible depending on the thickness of the braid. Just pick a number that works nicely for the story.

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Okay. Will do. I'll have to think of a significant number to their culture.

Unimportant said:

It took around 8 - 10 hours, pretty much non-stop.

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Hearing that gives me a crick in the neck already. And the boredom, the sitting still! (Why I wanted to avoid personal research.)