psschmied
04-18-2004, 08:49 PM
I find that during most of the year I have a coat with me, but I prefer not to wear it while driving. The rear set isn't a suitable place to lay a coat because it will slide off the slick fabric onto the floor.
I'd tried carribiners and "S" hookswith hangers, but they tended to slide around and rattle when not loaded, and the hangers posed a safety issue when not in use.
The product is called GripTwist. It is a 17" inch long super twist tie, 1/2" in diameter, consisting of a steel wire core surrounded by foam and sheathed in a black plastic skin with yellow end caps. The soft body should minimise any rattling or scratching against the interior of the Element. A pack of 4 costs $10 at the Container Store.
I took one, bent it double, and then wrapped the late 4 inches of the two ends behind, over and around a grap handle so that the yellow end caps were concealled behind the grab handle. The resulting hanging loop can be bent into a hook, or twisted 90 degrees, opened and used to support several hangers. The loop or hook is in scale with the Element, looks decent, and is soft enough to avoid an injury if someone should hit their head against one. Total install time was 2 minutes, including figuring out how to do it.
I tested it by putting two heavy winter coats on hangers and driving around for a day. It sagged slightly, but stayed tightly wrapped around he grab handle, so I installed one on the other side as well.
Repeated reshaping may eventually wear out the material of the GripTwist, but since they come in a pack of 4, there is a built in set of spares. They also can be used for other organizing purposes. I've already used one to secure the unused coat hangers in a side storage pocket, others to fashion a temporary flashlight holder, and hook a pail of paint to a rear side pocket. They come in other lengths up to 36".
I'd tried carribiners and "S" hookswith hangers, but they tended to slide around and rattle when not loaded, and the hangers posed a safety issue when not in use.
The product is called GripTwist. It is a 17" inch long super twist tie, 1/2" in diameter, consisting of a steel wire core surrounded by foam and sheathed in a black plastic skin with yellow end caps. The soft body should minimise any rattling or scratching against the interior of the Element. A pack of 4 costs $10 at the Container Store.
I took one, bent it double, and then wrapped the late 4 inches of the two ends behind, over and around a grap handle so that the yellow end caps were concealled behind the grab handle. The resulting hanging loop can be bent into a hook, or twisted 90 degrees, opened and used to support several hangers. The loop or hook is in scale with the Element, looks decent, and is soft enough to avoid an injury if someone should hit their head against one. Total install time was 2 minutes, including figuring out how to do it.
I tested it by putting two heavy winter coats on hangers and driving around for a day. It sagged slightly, but stayed tightly wrapped around he grab handle, so I installed one on the other side as well.
Repeated reshaping may eventually wear out the material of the GripTwist, but since they come in a pack of 4, there is a built in set of spares. They also can be used for other organizing purposes. I've already used one to secure the unused coat hangers in a side storage pocket, others to fashion a temporary flashlight holder, and hook a pail of paint to a rear side pocket. They come in other lengths up to 36".