I tried the no comb experiment for two weeks. The first night I did it, I had 2 broken hairs- this is down from 40, 50+ on any random night before that. I found that detangling nightly is the way to go for me...tried the low manipulation thing and my hair just got tangled. Finger combing took a long time, maybe 20 minutes (if I hurried) to an hour (if I really took my time). I did end up shedding much more hair than normal, but it could have been related to the changing seasons.
However. I then went and bought this seamless comb I've had my eye on for a bit- the Magic Star Rake. I got mine from hotcombs.net. At $17.50, I thought of it as an investment.
The comb just glided through my hair. I was shocked at how smooth and easy it was. And so fast! I can detangle my whole head in 2-3 minutes.
I lost maaaaybe 1 hair to breakage! And back to very minimal shedding as before. It was great in the shower, too. I love this comb!
My detangling method was starting at the bottom, then working my way up, as in this awesome video from longhairdontcare. The only difference is I use my hands to separate and detangle a bit first, then use the comb in the same way, from the bottom up:
