OK, so in the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty small and useless tip....but you see, I like to have my pens and pencils stuck places with Velcro. At work, we have these neat little plastic C-clips with Velcro on the pens in the cockpit, and you can throw them just about anywhere so they'll stick to the ubiquitous patches of Velcro on the walls and panels. Now, I COULD grab a few from work....but that would be WRONG! 
So....I had exhausted my supply of pens in the cockpit of the Val (where DO pens evaporate to?) and stopped by the dollar store to pick up a few. Knowing that it was a useless gesture, but feeling Quixotic, I wrapped some sticky-back hook Velcro around each one, and left for the night. Sure enough, this morning found the stuff unglued and unwrapped...and this wasn't even the heat of the day! (The view here, sitting on my kneeboard as I was bored and comfortably cruising at 6500')
Not one to avoid an engineering challenge, and inspired by the need to do SOMETHING while the mileage clocked down to BBQ at Llano, I noticed the little Velcro cable-wrap thingies that I use to keep the cockpit neat. These little devils are made with pile on one side, and hooks on the other, and are always too long for what I need to secure - so I often cut the ends off, and have them in my little cockpit organization bag.... (note the full length "thingie" (a technical term) and the cut off tail)
I suddenly had one of those "Aha!" moments...if I tucked the end underneath the pocket clip on the pen, then wrapped it around and OVER the clip and onto itself, it might just stay without any glue at all ! Well, since I had a couple of pens, and no more extra "tails", having used them to straighten up some XM cables, I pulled out my trusty miniature Leatherman and cut off a few more. Hence, the arts and crafts aspect to the story. I must point out to the young folks (and TSA agents) reading this tome that I do, in fact, carry tiny and sharp scissors on board the airplane, and they must be handled with care!
The resulting Velcro-secured pen is satisfying and utilitarian, tested to withstand zero-G inverted without detaching itself from the glareshield, and sure to last at least until the pen disappears into whatever black hole that claims all of my pens eventually....
Hey, I never claimed it to be rocket science! But at least it isn't all gooey and sticky.....
Hope you all had a rewarding flying weekend!
Paul
So....I had exhausted my supply of pens in the cockpit of the Val (where DO pens evaporate to?) and stopped by the dollar store to pick up a few. Knowing that it was a useless gesture, but feeling Quixotic, I wrapped some sticky-back hook Velcro around each one, and left for the night. Sure enough, this morning found the stuff unglued and unwrapped...and this wasn't even the heat of the day! (The view here, sitting on my kneeboard as I was bored and comfortably cruising at 6500')
Not one to avoid an engineering challenge, and inspired by the need to do SOMETHING while the mileage clocked down to BBQ at Llano, I noticed the little Velcro cable-wrap thingies that I use to keep the cockpit neat. These little devils are made with pile on one side, and hooks on the other, and are always too long for what I need to secure - so I often cut the ends off, and have them in my little cockpit organization bag.... (note the full length "thingie" (a technical term) and the cut off tail)
I suddenly had one of those "Aha!" moments...if I tucked the end underneath the pocket clip on the pen, then wrapped it around and OVER the clip and onto itself, it might just stay without any glue at all ! Well, since I had a couple of pens, and no more extra "tails", having used them to straighten up some XM cables, I pulled out my trusty miniature Leatherman and cut off a few more. Hence, the arts and crafts aspect to the story. I must point out to the young folks (and TSA agents) reading this tome that I do, in fact, carry tiny and sharp scissors on board the airplane, and they must be handled with care!
The resulting Velcro-secured pen is satisfying and utilitarian, tested to withstand zero-G inverted without detaching itself from the glareshield, and sure to last at least until the pen disappears into whatever black hole that claims all of my pens eventually....
Hey, I never claimed it to be rocket science! But at least it isn't all gooey and sticky.....
Hope you all had a rewarding flying weekend!
Paul
