For Hellerman tools and sleeves, try any of the major rental/sales houses who cater to theatre...One Dream Sound, PRG Audio, Sound Associates, and Masque Sound being the four major players (for the record, at the time I'm editing this, I work at One Dream).
For ear loops, the same sources should be able to help, otherwise check into audio suppliers who do more broadcast related stuff, since they're really made for IFB receivers for on-camera talent. Try BSW at
www.bswusa.com, or Full Compass (fullcompass.com).
Iņaki, if you haven't surmised it from my other post, since I didn't explicitly answer it, a Hellerman tool is a three-pronged gadget that allows you to slide a small rubber tube over the prongs. When you squeeze the handles (like a pair of pliers), the prongs spread apart, stretching the tubing, and allowing you to place to tubing around something else. It's a much preferred alternative to shrink tubing, since it's quicker and you don't risk melting the cable.
As for hiding the cable and element, as much as it may not be an option for a high school that already owns a collection of mics, that's why they make various colors of mic elements/cables other than black :o) On the last tour, we only used black ones when we ran out of everything else, we used cocoa and tan colored elements for most everybody, based on skin tone, and then colored the cables with Letraset Pantone markers to match hair where the cable went through the hair (other brands of markers don't hold up to sweat nearly as well as these do--trust me, I've tried, and had the fun of trying to find a substitute for a perfect match I'd found in another brand that turned from brown to grey over a week or so when sweat hit it).
--A
P.S.-Do you mean hair pins, or bobby pins? There's a difference, and that used to always get me in trouble with the wardrobe/hair and makeup folks when I'd ask for the wrong thing in a hurry ;o) Both have their uses for rigging mics, of course.
P.P.S.-The one other method I don't believe I mentioned in the earlier post is using wig clips. These are small clips that have teeth (not unlike combs) and are slightly curved. When you bend them one way, the teeth flare out and can be easily combed into hair, then you bend them the other way and they bite down on the hair. They're sewn into wigs to clip them onto hair.
Take a clip, appropriately colored, and a matching piece of elastic. Thread the elastic through the two holes in the clip and tie it into a loop around the clip, not too tight, but not loose (ie, it should be able to stretch a little bit, but should be snug). Flip the bottom side of the loop around the clip so that both strands are on the top of the clip, and thread the mic cable through the elastic, spiraling it around the elastic twice.
Two of these on a cable, one near the front of the head and one at the back holds a mic in quite securely; just tape it in front like you would with the elastic loop rig, and you're good to go.
On
Monty, the majority of the men were on either wig clips or elastic loops, with one who had a shaved head on an ear clip. The women all wore theirs under their wigs (except for the one who didn't have a wig, who used wig clips in her hair), using various combinations of elastic loops, wig clips, and hair pins as they felt comfortable with.