

An umbrella designed using aerodynamic theory to withstand 100km/h winds - bensummers
http://www.senzumbrellas.com/en/the-idea/

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archgrove
I have one of these. It certainly is much better at resisting the strong winds
England can blow than a classic umbrella (which lasts about 15 minutes around
here).

Unfortunately, it has two other problems that hamper any recommendation. The
first is, as another commenter mentioned, it won't stay closed when collapsed
without a fiddly velcro tie. You have to wrap it around the entire umbrella
body, which is keen to spring open whilst you struggle with it. With cold, wet
fingers this can be tricky.

The second problem is the build quality. Whilst generally OK, within 6 months
mine had developed two flaws. It won't stay fully extended, as one of the
little clips that pops out on the telescopic handle failed. It thus loves to
collapse down to a size suitable for a toddler at any opportunity. The second
is one of the canopy support structs popped out and bent, so it doesn't quite
hold rigid.

It's a pity that what is otherwise an excellent design is hampered by one poor
choice, and some shoddy construction. I don't know if the flaws on mine are
isolated, but if that were the case, I'd have expected one flaw at most - not
two orthogonal failures. Moreover, given the price, I scoured their website to
find support and customer services when it broke. I had no luck whatsoever in
finding after sales service, and couldn't return it to the store (it was a
gift).

~~~
steadicat
I had the exact same problem. It is now permanently in my closet. This is what
I wrote in my Amazon review:

In everyday use, there's a pretty major issue: it won't stay closed. When you
fold it and hold it upright like you would any umbrella when you get indoors,
it just falls open, getting your pants went and making you (and others) trip
on it.

You can try to hold it shut, but the sticks are all different lengths, you
need to individually grab each one, and you won't have any spare hands to open
the door or get your keys. You can try to wrap it up, using not one, but TWO
straps, which will get your hands all wet. And it's annoying as hell to have
to do all the time.

It also won't stay closed when you prop it up against a wall, it will just
fall all over the floor and make everything wet.

As if that weren't enough, the shape is odd: it makes it hard to cover
yourself completely. I've tried. It is always too narrow in one direction. It
also makes you look like a dork.

To be fair, it is solidly built and can hold its own in strong wind. The
handle smells slightly but is comfortable to hold. Watch out though, because
it's made of two parts that join as you open the umbrella, and it's quite easy
to pinch yourself.

To sum up: bad design. Looks good on paper, terrible in actual use.

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blueben
"The senz° umbrella has been awarded all major design awards in the world."

We have all your awards. If you want them back, you will have to pay us one
MILLION dollars!

But seriously, what a strange thing to put in your marketing. Surely you
haven't won every design award there is.

~~~
gacba
In fairness, it could be a language issue. The story of the company references
newspaper ads that are in some Scandanavian language I don't
recongize...(maybe, that's a guess). Writing in a non-native language, even
when your fluent, can leave the odd syllogism here and there.

~~~
Luc
The newspapers are Dutch (as is the company). The copy-writing is just not
very well done...

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mootothemax
_The senz° storm umbrella will withstand 100 km/h winds, or 70 mph if you
like_

I hope that's a typo. It's one thing to round up 69mph to 70, but quite
another to round up 62 to 70. For starters, that gives you over 110kph!

~~~
eru
I guess the umbrellas are overengineered anyway, and will stand up to 150 km/h
or so anyway.

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Luc
EuroSchirm's 'birdiepal outdoor' is a great extreme-weather umbrella. It's of
traditional design, but constructed very strongly with glassfiber etc. Their
website sucks, but they have a video somewhere of someone driving over it,
taking it under a waterfall and generally abusing it. You can still flip it
upside down, but it doesn't harm it, it seems.

<http://www.euroschirm.com/intro/index2.html>

EDIT: Here it is on Youtube:<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3oyTyWq9_I>
(don't bother unless you are _really_ passionate about umbrella's. I can't
believe I've actually put this much effort into this comment...)

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thingie
The video doesn't answer the crucial question -- will it still offer some
protection from the rain? If not, what's the point, you can just fold it down
:-)

~~~
seles
The sole purpose of this design is to avoid "the inverted" umbrella problem.
But how much a problem is this? I have never seen this happen in real life.

~~~
chrisbroadfoot
All the time. You must have amazing weather where you live :)

~~~
dasil003
Fucking bay area man. It never even thunders here. I've been here two years
and already I'm a wuss like everybody else. I'm sick of complaining how hot it
is when it hits 80 and how cold it is when it hits 65, and how it's raining
when there's just a thick mist in the air.

~~~
chrisbroadfoot
Actually, the last time this happened to me was _when I visited SF a few weeks
ago_. There was pretty shocking rain and awful winds. I had a cheap umbrella.

~~~
dasil003
Yeah SF is probably the anomaly in the bay area due to lack of mountain cover.

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TravisLS
I've used one of these in New York for a year or so, and while they stand up
well to the wind, there are other design considerations where they're oddly
lacking. For instance, on the compact version, the handle is much to small,
making it uncomfortable to hold. On the larger versions, the umbrella doesn't
stay collapsed, so every time you arrive inside you have to awkwardly fumble
to tie the velcro straps around it while it flops open.

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joshwa
What happens when you're not walking directly into the wind? Do you have to
continually re-orient the umbrella to point upwind?

~~~
Mystalic
Its design automatically re-orients the umbrella.

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yanowitz
I was considering purchasing one for Chicago loop weather, but reviews on
amazon indicate that if your wind is non-uniform (and in Chicago, it is), the
umbrella fails as it constantly tries to turn into the wind (and they tend to
be shoddily made). Oh well.

~~~
maukdaddy
I gave up on umbrellas in Chicago and just got a nice raincoat from Patagonia.

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webmat
A new wave of umbrella-induced eye poking is coming our way, when these things
turn around to follow the wind.

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tyng
I always hated the fact that normal umbrellas have their handles in the
middle, especially when I'm sharing an umbrella with someone else.

This umbrella solved two problems for me! I'm seriously thinking about
ordering one. My only concern is that would one side of the umbrella be
significantly heavier than the other side? That'd be a pain to hold it up all
the time.

~~~
roel_v
No, you hardly notice that. I have one of these from an early production
batch, back when this was just a nifty research project at Delft University
and they were handing them out as University swag with the DU logo on it.

~~~
tyng
Thanks! I hope they handed them out at my uni too, lol

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micheljansen
I have one of these and I love it. I wonder why this shows up on HN now
though, as it is at least a couple of years old now (the company started in
2005).

The story behind it all makes for much more HN-worthy fare: it was started by
students as a spin-off from a University project and is now a successful,
profitable company: <http://www.senzumbrellas.com/en/how-it-all-started/>

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roel_v
I like mine even though the wind here hardly ever blows so hard that it breaks
umbrellas. I like the asymmetry of it, you can hold it off-center (relative to
your body) and still be completely covered (when there is no wind and rain is
falling down straight from above as happens often here in the Netherlands).
Also you don't (usually) poke out the eyes of people you pass in the street.

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MrMatt
I have one of these (they're actually pretty good) it reorients so it always
faces the wind and the shape gives you more coverage over your back when it's
not too windy. Also, it looks awesome.

The handle is small though, so it's a bit uncomfortable when used for a long
time.

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jarito
Woot had these on sale and I picked one up. I've used it several times,
including some of the more spectacular storms that we get here in Texas and it
works as advertised. I also appreciate that the long tail design covers my
backpack which usually contains my laptop.

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mhb
And you can use it to walk at twice the speed of the wind _into_ the wind.
Believe it or not.

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wallflower
I used the Senz Mini for over a year. Once I ran two city blocks back to a
movie theater because I had left it under the seat. It's an umbrella that
stands out from the crowd. I stopped using it because, in practice, anything
over a 20 mph wind will guarantee wetness no matter what umbrella you use.
Also, I made the mistake of using the 35-mph rated Mini in a storm with 45+
mile gusts - and it literally ripped the support from one of the umbrella
links.

In a strong enough storm, you'll just be like Mary Poppins.

If I have enough warning, I will actually wear a lightweight version of the
same waterproof pants used by highway workers over my jeans.

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phillijw
It may stand up to wind but it doesn't look like it keeps the rain off of you.
If you have 100mph winds coming in from an angle you better expect the rain to
come in at the same angle too

~~~
ars
Obviously. But the wind doesn't blow at 100 all the time, it gusts. You use
the umbrella to keep the rain off most of the time, but you want it to survive
the gusts.

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IChrisI
Woot sells these for around $20 sometimes. The comments are usually a mixed
bag, with some people saying it's really good, and other citing problems such
as size, durability, etc.

There are a lot of comments here:
<http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4074424>

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stcredzero
I am reminded of an "umbrellas haven't changed in 150 years" conversation in
an anime somewhere.

~~~
zach
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oPsGa0tpUc>

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mtalantikite
Read this in the New Yorker a while back, sounds like a similar design:

[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/11/080211fa_fact_...](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/11/080211fa_fact_orlean?currentPage=all)

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cdixon
I have one of these. The problem is it breaks when the wind changes
directions.

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harscoat
[edit] I wonder why was this invented in the Netherlands...

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epo
And you'd probably lose it first day you took it out.

~~~
user24
I'd worry about it acting as sail and flying out of your hands, but in general
I love it. If I was richer I'd buy one.

~~~
jules
Have you watched the video? It seems that traditional umbrellas act as sails.
This one moves by itself so that the surface that faces the wind is small.

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JoeAltmaier
Wow! Love that web page - I didn't have to ready anything at all to totally
get the idea.

Now to make my big idea webpage do that...

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haribilalic
If I had to face 100 km/h winds often enough that I'd be looking at buying a
special umbrella, I'd start wearing a raincoat instead.

