Fort Collins Man Builds His Beard into a Birdcage

With No Shave November in full swing, it's fitting that over three hundred bearded bros gathered together in New York this past weekend to celebrate their epic facial hair for the 2015 National Beard and Moustache Championships. A Fort Collins man played a role in handing out an award during this year's competition, and also debuted a very creative beard design while doing so.

In total, there were 18 hairy winners among a variety of categories between the moustache group, the partial beard group, and the full beard group. Subcategories for some of these included Fu Manchu, Styled, Natural, Dali, and Freestyle. A panel of judges decided the winning contestants based on whose facial hair best enhanced their overall appearance, style, and personality. Although beard enthusiast, Eric Brooks of Fort Collins has been a part of competitions in the past, he did not compete in the recent national championships. Rather, Brooks traveled to New York to present the "Just Because" award on behalf of the event's main sponsor, Just For Men.

Brooks, 26, has not shaven his burly beard in over four years, and while he usually has to keep it knotted up to avoid being tugged on by his daughter, he loves wowing audiences with it at competitions. Brooks used a matching shade of prosthetic hair to build create the beardcage prop that he then placed over his head, and weaved into his chest-length beard. If he were to have been competing, the extravagant style would have fallen into the Freestyle category – the grouping where usually pretty much anything goes, but since it included a prop and fake hair, he was ineligible. The official craft beer sponsor of the event, Traveler Beer Co., paid for Brooks' trip in exchange for promoting the company at the competition.

You may remember seeing some of Eric Brooks' other beard-do's when he previously caught the media's attention after sporting some pretty funky facial hair at both a Colorado Avalanche and Rockies game. In October, Brooks competed in state, walking away with a second place victory at the third annual Boulder Beard and Moustache Competition. He plans to unleash the beard again at Hodi's Half Note next June, when the next local competition is scheduled to take place. In addition, Brooks is working with the Rocky Mountain Beard and Moustache Club to set up a big national beard and moustache competition sometime next fall. So guys, if you plan on partaking, now is probably the time to ditch the razor.