Hey man, thanks for both your comments - i'll respond with my opinion to both of what you said here and your earlier comment:
Your first issue seems to be cost. Now I'm not sure what you do for a living or what your savings account might look like, but if we are talking between 1000-2000 grafts, it's all probably under $ 10k (CAD) FUT. FUE goes up to around $8 per graft, so max 16k. While that's pricey, it is pretty reasonable to me to have a good hairline (although I have a pretty good career and I understand others might not be as fortunate with salary). I think the cost is kind of subjective - 10-12k really isn't much to me to be honest, but valid point because some might view that that kind of money as extreme for hair.
I get what you're saying and I like the way you phrased the 'frankenstein' comment too. This approach is definitely drastic and intense - "over the top" as you say - but it's all in a concentrated effort to actually make maintenance of the system less effort in the long run. The reason I'd want the transplant is so I can save my valuable time not having to redo the hair piece every few days - the maintenance of a hair piece strikes me as equally intense, and this looks like a cool way of having to not be spending a ton of time on maintenance. So while at face value it is "over the top," I think, in the long run, it's more like a huge down-payment to allow one to be more lazy and exercise less effort on their hair over the years to come.
As for your, "I could never explain this to a woman" comment, I totally understood where youre coming from on that too. However, I suppose I have never really thought in those terms. Women wear wigs and makeup all the time. Women get breast surgery, eye surgery, nosejobs, facelifts, etc. I think it's a pretty medieval attitude to base one's decision around a stigma when it comes to making decisions for one's happiness. If a partner were to judge me for wanting to do this for my appearance, I'd ask them to be philosophically consistent and refrain from spending money on makeup, fake nails, lashes, and expensive clothing. Women cumulatively spend thousands on those things all the time and no one cares - seems contradictory to me.
As for the permanence? Yes, you and Noah are correct. That is a big concern. However, I believer side hair recedes significantly slower. So in 15-30 years, you can always just get another transplant that is tailored to your sides if it looks 'absolutely ridiculous.' Alternatively, you could just shave your head. Joe Rogan shaves his head and he's had multiple transplants. There is virutally zero scarring when it comes to FUE, and even FUT scars can be filled in with skin-coloured ink (tattoo that hides scars).
Regardless man, I sincerely appreciate your perspective. If I end up going for it in the future, I'll let you know.
Hey BH. Glad you took the comments to heart and are considering all options out there. But just to respond to a few of the things you said with some genuine honesty. Some of my comments are in response to your response to Noah.
1- And this is most important... I do not know where you were told, learned about, or even saw that FUE scarring is virtually nothing. This couldn't be any further from the truth. Aside from my own extensive research on and off for the past 13 years (and yes, even the last 5 years when FUE has really changed rather drastically, there will ALWAYS be some form of scarring that will at the very least somewhat noticeable, even with the most minuscule FUE punches out there, whether Artas' new punch or any other punch device. Don't believe me? Take my $150 consultation with the legendary Dr. Bernstein in Manhattan last year when he told me flat out that even if I had my haircuts to a 1 guard you would likely be able to see the scars because "If you can see scalp, you can see the scars" were his words.
2- As far as money goes if 10-12k isn't a lot to you (though I would never ever go the barbaric route of FUT), then by all means do it if you have done your research and feel comfortable. You are right that for FUE and 1,000 grafts you're probably going to be shelling out 16-17 grand. Again I must say again, while I personally am not a fan of the hairline hair transplant/hair system combo, IF I were you (who might want that) and a doctor were to come to me and saying the result for your $16-17,000 will be flawless, then fine, put me in the chair and let's get this done. Unfortunately that is just not reality with this or ANY surgery there is. Also with the money thing, I guess for me and my drastic hair loss, it always feels worse bc I was told I would need at least 2 surgeries to end up somewhat happy, and just those 2 would amount to over 30 grand (FUE). To me that's money I just don't have, at least not for something that wouldn't guarantee me a good result. Also by result I hope you also understand that there are circumstances, a little less common, where the grafts simply don't "take" well. Then you're out thousands and thousands and don't even have a full result to show for it!
3- The Women thing. For quite some time I went along with the narrative of "Well women wear ALL sorts of makeup, wigs, get breast implants, botox, etc etc etc", so what's the big deal if a guy wears hair? (or in your case, wears hair and had surgery to redo your hairline). Look, while I do (like all of us) have my own few insecurities, by no means am I a flat out insecure guy. But that being said, simply put, men do not get the same societal acceptance women do when it comes to cosmetics. It's JUST the way that it is. I once went to a tanning salon two years ago to look a little more photogenic for an upcoming winter wedding in October here in New York, and even my own (female) boss picked up on it at work the next day (wedding wasn't until the following day) and made a joke about it to my face. She would not be alone in her thoughts had others in the office found out I can promise you that. Again, just the way that it is. A lot people in this world, especially the US/UK are judgmental. Plenty are even a--holes. These are parts of the reason I'm on here everyday trying to learn every single thing before I wear in order for it to look the most realistic way possible. I'll explain more in a second..
But first, moving back to men wearing hair in general, the harsh reality is that these things, for the most part, DO in fact still have a very negative stigma attached to them to the ordinary person. Certainly not to all of us wearers/potential wearers/hair stylists on here commenting everyday, watching YouTube videos that were specifically suggested for us, etc, etc. The bottom line is people still haven't really detached their minds from what they used to see from the 60's, 70's and so on with regards to their grandfather's toupee's, or even Sy Serlings Hair Club's rise in the mid 90's along with his cringe funny commercials. Occasionally sure, you'll get someone in the know who may have heard Travolta wore them in movies or Kevin James wore on in King of Queens, but for the most part, nobody is looking at this stuff like we are. And the sadder harsh reality is that if all the hair system YouTubers subscriber counts are any indication, the base and audience for them really are not as big as we may think it is. Curtis and My Hair Experience which is by far the biggest and most successful channel on the subject for years now, has a measly 28k subscribers. I don't need to tell you what a number like that is in the grand scheme of YouTube.
But in any event, we still have to find a way. A way to move on and a way to just not give a F--- what women or anyone for that matter thinks, and the best way to combat this is again, trying to ensure that a system looks so believable that in the event anyone found out that you were wearing, they'd be so floored and shocked that they wouldn't even think must about associating your new cosmetic enhancement with being negative. Instead, again, they'd just be shocked.
4- I hope you know that video you shared was not a hairline transplant but instead a guy who has gone bald/thinned out in a very "fortunate" way with regards to the route he has decided to go with applying a hair system.
Be well and thank you for reading.