Roach & Spreader

[doya dalonige]

Okay, now this is going to sound silly or stupid to some of you. I've been Gourd dancing for about 20 years and now I'm getting into Straight dancing. After making most all my regalia myself I was ready to get a roach made to match my regalia. After a couple of years and ALOT of money ( I was scamed) I found a reputable maker and had a roach made. My question is: How do you keep the spreader and roach together? I've been to literally 100s of pow wows and seen dancers take their roaches and spreaders off as one piece but I don't know how it's done. When I learn how to do this I can have my special and enter the circle in the proper way and begin Straight dancing. Any and all help will be appreciated. WADO

[rodond]

two ways either tied on with shoe strings run thought the spreader and base of the roach or if you have long enough hair you braid a top braid and run it through the base and spreader and lock it in with a roach stick

[Fat Albert]

Hands down the hair is the best way. I have done both and will never go back to strings if I can help it. Make sure your braid is a good tight braid though!

[doya dalonige]

Rodond,
Thanks for the info. I had thought about braiding my hair because it is long BUT I'm 55 yrs. young and it is VERY thin on top so that is not much of an option. I had also thought that I could use ties through the roach base but I wanted to make sure. Again WADO for your help.

[doya dalonige]

Fat Albert,
Thanks for the info, I think I'll go with the laces through the roach base because even though my hair is long it's VERY thin on top so a braid would not be very stable. I'm 55 yrs. young and my hair isn't what it was when I was twenty. WADO again for the help.

[Fat Albert]

Fat Albert,
Thanks for the info, I think I'll go with the laces through the roach base because even though my hair is long it's VERY thin on top so a braid would not be very stable. I'm 55 yrs. young and my hair isn't what it was when I was twenty. WADO again for the help.

Well I bet that laces are still better than using staples! LOL!

[rodond]

i have the same problem but wore my roach with ties for years when i was fancy dancing so it nothing new

[legalstraight]

Ossiyo Doya,
Check out your spreader too- a lot of times they only have the whole for straps/braid up by socket, if thats the case you either need to put another hole or two in the end (can use a roofing nail to do it) or find some way to weave the back end down onto your roach (elastic through your roach base will work) other wise one time you turn and the back of your spreader ends up in front of your head- it happened to me last year.
And I gots da long hair, and i still do the laces- that braid has to be real tight and it just presents too much of an opportunity for your wife to get even over every time you were too busy beading or cutting ribbon to take out the garbage.

As for everything coming off as one piece, I have also seen a spreader with (for lack of a better term) snags on the bottom- little metal tabs that stuck out on the back so once you put it on the base and wiggled it you had to push it forward to take it off.

[Fat Albert]

If your set up is just a little further back on your head, gravity will take over and you should not have problems with the whole set up swinging around in front of your face unless it is really windy. I have neck ties through the base of my roach for that reason but have never used them in the last 5 or so years. Of course, you should probably use a braid to get there since if you are using ties they would be resting above your ears and back and it is really easy to slide off unless you tie it so you turn blue.

[doya dalonige]

Rodond,
WADO for the reply. Ron

[doya dalonige]

Legalstraight, WADO for the info. My spreader is silver and has holes at the sockets and down at the bottom, so putting in laces is not going to be a problem. I have seen dancers who have had their roach move on their heads while they were dancing. You can see in their eyes how frustrating it is ESPECIALLY during a contest. Usually it's the inexperienced dancers that have the problem. I don't plan on doing much competing, I just want to dance.
Again, thanks for the info. Ron

[doya dalonige]

Fat Albert,
WADO for the info. I don't think I'll have much of a problem(hope,hope). I'm not going to be getting overly active during my dancing I want to be more traditional. I have seen some Straight dancers that move rapidly and alot. I want to be more "old style" and move slowly and deliberately. For that reason I don't think I'll have a problem with my roach moving, unless there is a strong wind. Anyway, thanks for the help. Ron

[Gledanh Zhinga]

If you use those neck tie strings that go through the base of the roach, they should be positioned so that the roach drops pretty much straight down from where the back of your head is the fullest. In other words, the lower portion of the roach should not tuck into your so-called occiput, giving it a rounded look, viewed from the side. That's what I was told, anyway.