Does anyone know of an alternative to spiking my banjo that will also work well? Any ideas welcome! Thanks guys (and gals if there are any on here).
Railway spikes etc
Nevermind folks! I came up with something based on ideas I found on the net.
I don’t really know what you call the connector I used, but it’s an old thing I had lying around the house. It converted two mono mini-jacks to a single stereo jack. I have other lying around too, but they are 1/4 inch and will never fit under the string. The mini jack one is very tiny. All you have to do to add some stability would be to use something like blu-tack (called “presstick” around my part of the world) under the big black part of the connector. So far it works like a charm! The other con is that you might en up being a lil bit flat since it is slightly behind the fret, so you’ll need to tune up by a couple of cents when using it and tune back down when you’re not.
ps. I also cut the tip off to ensure that it doesn’t get close to the D string that might make it buzz when you put some power behind your thumb
This is probably the most popular alternate to installing R/R spikes
I like this idea for affordable…
I wanted to try the pen cap one, but just could not find the caps to any of my pens! 
I have used the pen cap for a while, but it only worked well up to A. Higher up the neck, banjo went easily out of tune and pen cap came loose. Solved it by ordering a banjo in the States with railroad spikes and then have it shipped overseas 
Has anyone used the shubb? I would like to know if it impedes fretting the 5th string with your thumb. I had an old shub-like one years ago and it protruded too much, this one looks like it might be easier to use.
Right now I’m using the Reagan 5th String Capo
At any given time, I know I will lose it.
It can interfere with not only fretting the fifth string, but is also another thing to avoid with your thumb when changing positions up and down the neck.
That’s what I was afraid of, I guess after 35 years it’s time to look into some spikes. ;o)