Any tips on how not to loose a kilt pin?

[cck]

Rather than have the pin go through the kilt fabric in and out once to meet the clasp, I have found that weaving it several times through the material will keep it from falling out easily.

[John_Carrick]

Rubber bands sound like the answer. I lost a kilt pin in London one time. I thought of soldering or glueing but as a frequent flyer there is the problem of the security checks at the airport.
I also like blanket pins and I am surprised to hear of one falling off. Even so they a only cost a pound or two and I have a supply of them. They make enormous holes however!
John

[OC Richard]

Or if yinz are from Pittsburgh Pa, it's a gumband.

That's awesome! I'd heard 'yinz' but 'gumband' is new to me.

As for me, the answer to the OP's question "how not to lose a kilt pin" is simple... I don't wear one!

I'm a piper who has to don the outfit whenever I perform. I want to look smart with the absolute minimum. 40 years of piping has trimmed it down to hat, shirt, necktie, jacket, kilt, sporran, hose, flashes, and shoes. Nine items is enough! No sgain, waistcoat, waistbelt, or pins of any sort anywhere save for the cap badge.

A kilt pin has the following disadvantages:
1) it's an extra thing to put on and keep track of
2) it punches holes in a perfectly fine kilt
3) when getting into or out of the car, or marching about during a piping gig, it can get caught on something and tear and even bigger hole in a perfectly fine kilt.

Ever see a pile of 20 year old band kilts, when the band wore kilt pins? Rare is the kilt that isn't ripped where the kilt pin was worn.

My pared-down nine-thing kit in action recently

[Tobus]

2) it punches holes in a perfectly fine kilt

If you're "punching holes" in a kilt when installing a kilt pin, you're doing it wrong. I see so many people complain about this, and I think it just boils down to the fact that they are ramming the pin through the fabric without any thought whatsoever. Probably piercing the yarns or breaking them in the process.

A kilt pin should be inserted through the fabric by easing the pin in between the yarns of the wool. All it has to do is push its way through, spreading the yarns apart from each other. When you remove the pin, take the fabric between your thumb and forefinger, using both hands (on either side of the opening), and work the fabric back and forth. Do this in both directions (90 degrees from each other), and the opening will disappear entirely as the yarns close up.

Granted, if you're wearing a really heavy pin, or being so careless as to catch it on things, there's a risk that the fabric will tear or deform beyond the point where the hole can be closed up. Which is why I prefer a plain old blanket pin that's lightweight, and I leave it on my kilt all the time. But I've never had any problem with permanent holes or tears. In fact, when I do take a pin off for some reason, I can't ever find the holes again because they close up.