#HTE

A Removable Wall Hook, Yea or Nay?

The amount of retailers selling those brass key hooks indicates they’re popular. The utility of having something you can quickly hook and unhook, and their classic appeal, is obvious. Is there a modern-day equivalent?

A startup company called Dango Products thinks so. Their Loop Hook is a CNC-milled piece of aluminum, and they’re calling it “a utility grapple that will hang on most ledges, rails and branches to keep your everyday carries off the ground and always in sight.”

It seems useful enough, and while the aesthetic and price point don’t appeal to me, it was good enough to get Kickstarted and get the company going. We’re always interested when design entrepreneurs start a company around a single, small, low-tech object, because it seems so doable.

Where it gets a little crazy for me is the version they offer with a wall mount, which raises the price from $25 to $45. This consists of an aluminum mount for the hook which you are meant to screw into a wall, and which is encased in either walnut, bamboo or more aluminum, and the hook slides in and out of it.

I can’t for the life of me think of why I’d want a two-piece wall-mounted system incorporating a hook that I could pull off of the wall. If I’m going to dig around for some anchors (or get the stud finder) and put holes in sheetrock, it’s because I’m installing something that I want to offer permanent utility. This bracket just seems overdesigned to me. What say you?