In early August I wrote a review of the newly-released Tandem t:case. My views of the case were mostly favorable but I wrote one sentence that was more significant than I knew at the time: “IMO the clip is slightly too short when wearing the pump vertically and is not as tight on my waistband as I would like.”

A month after the Dexcom G5 software update for my X2 pump, I revisited the case issue and wrote: “Wearing the pump on my waistband has brought back the problem that the clip on the new case is neither tight enough nor long enough to keep the pump secure in the vertical position. Over two days it fell off 5 or 6 times.” I followed that statement with one case hack that failed and one clip option that was successful. I promised to experiment more and share the results in a later post. So here we go.

Three Successful Hacks

Success #1:  Knowing that Velcro is my hack solution, I applied a square of Velcro (hook side) to the back of my pink t:case. In one week of use, the pump did not fall off once. There was a little tugging and scratching of the Velcro as I slid it onto my pants, but it was a solid and reliable solution. The pump mostly stayed vertical but was easy to rotate when I wanted to see the pump screen.

Success #2:  I considered that the scratchiness of the Velcro might cause damage to the front of my pants. (Actually I don’t care because I always have a shirt or sweater covering my waist, but you might.) So my next experiment was to attach Velcro to the inside curve of the clip which would only come in contact with the inside of my slacks. This amazingly worked great and once again the pump did not fall off during the weeklong experiment.

Success #3:  In my September post I mentioned that I was using the Nite Ize Hip Clip attached directly to my pump. I removed the clip in order to do the case experiments described in this post. (To remove the clip, I carefully used an X-Acto knife to cut through the adhesive and peeled off as much of the tape as possible. Then I used a tiny bit of adhesive remover to get the last bit.)

After all of my experiments, I decided that the t:case added unnecessary weight to my pump and I went back to the hip clip applied directly to the pump. As before I had a small piece of Velcro (hook side) on the inside of the clip. Although the pump has never fallen off with this solution, it did spin more than I liked. So I added another piece of Velcro—the loop side this time. Just so you know, the Velcro FAQ calls this side “the softer mate.” Almost pornographic, isn’t it?  This provides enough friction (Stop the pornography!!!) to stop most of the tilting but is still easy to turn when I want to look at the screen.

BTW if you decide to apply a clip to your pump, be careful not to cover the vent holes. To give credit where due, I learned about the Nite Ize Hip Clip several years ago from Kerri at Six Until Me and Sarah at Sugabetic.

The Failures

Failure #1:  In my September post, I indicated that I had tried attaching a piece of Velcro to the curved tip of the clip. The Velcro solved the pump-falling-off problem but unfortunately made it difficult to slide the pump onto my waistband. Ultimately I broke the case by trying to open the clip wide enough to pull onto my pants. A definite user error and because I was given this case for free, I did not try to get a warranty replacement.

Failure #2:  To repair the broken case, my next hack was to attach a Nite Ize Clip directly to the case. It was a previously-used clip and I purchased 3M Scotch Outdoor Mounting tape to attach it to the case. I used a piece of Velcro on the interior of the clip as described above in Success #3. The 3M tape is guaranteed to hold 15 pounds and the clip stayed attached to the case with no problems. The issue was that like the Tandem clip, this clip was not tight enough to keep the pump on my waistband. The Velcro pad was not successful in dealing with the combined weight of the pump and case.

Summary:

I am currently using a Nite Ize clip applied directly to my pump. Two pieces of Velcro keep it secure on my waistband. Before the Dexcom G5 integration, I was content with the pump in my pocket and I used a case which seemingly prevented false occlusion alarms. Now I am wearing the pump on my waistband most of the time because of the convenience of seeing my Dexcom G5 info when I bolus. I have not had any occlusion alarms and I will keep my fingers crossed that they don’t reappear.

If I had to pick my favorite pump clip ever, I would pick the Animas clip which attached directly to the pump and was super tight. Tandem pumps are designed differently and the Animas clip layout wouldn’t work. At the same time I would argue that Tandem could have designed a clip that would keep a t:cased pump secure on users’ waistbands. But they didn’t. So know that Velcro is your friend and don’t be afraid to experiment. If you find a great solution, please share.

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Please note that I have not damaged my pump, clips, or cases (except the one I broke!) with these hacks. I suspect that you won’t have damage either, but I can’t guarantee it. So hack at your own risk.