Pouch Stylus Hack

[Thomas White]

I noticed two things:

* That I was always using the tip clip on the end of my Freerunner's
pouch cord as a stylus, even in preference to using a proper stylus
(since that was all the way in my bag).

* That I didn't use the clip for any kind of "clippy" purposes.

So I thought: why not turn the clip into something more suitable?
There's no reason why the pouch shouldn't be a part of the hacking as
well, after all....!

So, I cut the clip off (using scissors, the plastic wasn't very strong)
and carefully unpicked the stitching that created the little loop at
the end of the cord to hold it on.  You have to be very careful not to
also cut through the other stitching which joins the two pieces of cord
together at the end.

Then I took an old guitar plectrum and cut a hole in it.  If I had a
drill to hand, I would've used that.  Because I didn't, I was limited
to doing something nasty involving pliers and other cutting tools.
This left me with something like this:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~taw27/openmoko/pouch-stylus/plectrum-and-pouch.jpg

Then by carefully pushing the end of the cord loop through the hole,
passing the loop back over the plectrum and pulling tight, I had this:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~taw27/openmoko/pouch-stylus/pouch-stylus.jpg
... which works quite nicely!  The cord "knot" makes it quite
comfortable, and of course I always have it with me.  I have to turn
the pouch upside-down to have the cord approaching from the right angle
(I'm left-handed), and I also recommend pushing the toggle to the
"pouch end" to avoid having the chunk of plastic in the way.

"Optimisations" welcome...

Tom

-- 

Thomas White
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy
Electron Microscopy Group (PhD Student)
University of Cambridge / Downing College