[ansible]

> Here’s an idea. Instead of the rod being parallel with the wall, have multiple small rods perpendicular to the wall. They can easily accommodate full size coat hangers. Problem solved

That takes up more wall space, and makes it harder to see what everything is.

I get that this is not the product for you (or me either), but don't compare the 3 years of on again, off again mulling over the design with your 20 seconds of thought on the problem space.

[rplnt]

> with your 20 seconds of thought on the problem space

It's a solved problem, is what I imagine OP meant by the "idea". It's not theirs. Those products exist.

It's not harder to see what everything is because they come in variants where they are stacked vertically, can pop out, can slide out. I agree it might not be as space efficient, but at least you are not limited to thin items that don't crease. And it's just a rack and you can use $0.50 coat hangers instead of $6 ones.

I do see the beauty of this design, and it can be useful when you have limited width as well (as the van pictured), so this is not a hate on that, just that this is not a revolution, just a different take on it.

[Jnr]

Someone linked the "parallel to the wall" hanger here https://www.amazon.ca/Retractable-Adjustable-Wardrobe-Clothi... and it costs a lot. If you want to put multiple ones next to each other, it becomes quite expensive.

Also access to items behind other items becomes harder and slower. And it requires a shelf above to secure to.

Horizontal pole and foldable hanger design still seems like a simpler and better approach. The design seems so good that I bet you will be able to order these from China in a couple of years for less than a dollar.

[wodenokoto]

Ikea has them for pretty cheap, though they are made to fit inside their closets.

[ansible]

So I've thought about the problem some more, and have my own idea.

You would still have a rod mounted a short distance from the wall, like the clothes hinger design, but a little further out. The rod for the clothes hinger has grooves that are perpendicular to the long axis of the rod.

But what if you cut the grooves at an angle instead, maybe 60 degrees. This would take up about the same distance out from the wall as the clothes hinger design, but slightly more wall space. This would be a factor for very constrained walls, but for the longer rods, the "overhead" would be insignificant. And it would only project out from the wall the same as the clothes hinger design (that's trigonometry!).

You would use a smaller diameter rod, so that with the grooves cut at an angle, the diameter is still sufficiently small enough to use a regular clothes hanger.