Item for removing stuff from headphone jack on a plane?

score:6

Friend reported back, he successfully resolved it in flight using two items from the inflight-meal, Macguyver style:

the two combined were able to extract said items from the headphone jack.

Mark Mayo 158416

Upvote:2

A paperclip bent out a bit.

It also works as a tool to change SIMs (when traveling internationally) and hardware reset button tool.

Chris Butler 121

Upvote:4

A few options:

Use a straw, place it over the jack and then inhale a bit till the dust is in the straw - discard the straw.
Toothpick, although this might only be given after the plane is above its initial climb.
Just blow across the top of phone, holding it perpendicular to your mouth.

Burhan Khalid 39437

Upvote:4

Before attempting any of these solutions, turn the device off just to be on the safe side.

I thought of a few more plausible solutions:

You could try with a cotton swab (Q-tip). First remove any excess cotton from the tip and use the hard plastic to poke at the paper until it comes out. You could even deform the plastic to make a sharp point out of it, using your teeth, your nails, or any other improvised cutting device.
Another option could be using a paper clip, which he might already have in his bag (holding documents together, for example). Be careful because with a metal probe there is the chance of damaging the jack slot. Also turn the device off to avoid shorting it.
Finally, building on the blowing-air-into-the-slot idea, if your lungs aren't strong enough you could use the air vents in the aeroplane. Often these produce a strong air stream, which could be used to blow out dirt from the jack slot. See picture below:

JoErNanO 52394

Source: stackoverflow.com