OT: umbrellas

[deechee]

Hey, why not?
You guys talk about watches, t-shirts and sports cars.
I figure since most of you are a classy bunch, you've got some fancy umbrellas? My favourite umbrellas have always been from Japan, they hold up to the wind and are extremely compact.

That said, I've gotten used to a larger umbrella, one that can shelter myself and my gf, but my latest one died on me this morning. It was a fulton with a graphite/cf pole and I loved it because it was light and the handle was comfortable even in the cold.

Any suggestions? Where to buy?

[eddief]

I have not used it under extreme conditions, but it is supposed to be a heavy duty competitor.

http://www.gustbuster.com/

Not the Timex of the umbrella world.

[gomez308]

Umbrellas are for girls. No offense to the girls here.

[AndreS]

I've never liked umbrellas, either. Umbrellas you gotta buy, carry, keep track of, walking with them is a challenge (wind turns them inside out, you have to worry about poking others). Too much trouble.

I much prefer rain coats - more versatile: can serve as raincoat, shell for cool-but-not-cold conditions, or with insulating layer cold-and-wet or cold-and-windy conditions (I've gone years without a true winter coat), can wear backpacking, etc.

[William]

http://www.pimall.com/nais/IMAGES/umbrellamany.jpg

[dauwhe]

The umbrella is perhaps the single most useful piece of gear for backpacking.

I remember once hiking on the Colorado Trail through the Weminuche Wilderness. It had been raining all morning, and I came across a group of boy scouts. Many of them were wearing plastic trash bags as rain gear, and they looked like a bunch of drowned rats. I strolled by with my umbrella, dry and happy, and one of them looked at me and said, "That's cheating!"

GoLite makes a nice umbrella...

Dave

[Ozz]

cool....

[deechee]

ditto.
i wear my gore-tex jacket on rainy days and when its raining sideways its the main thing that keeps me dry but a coat won't protect your legs, shoes and bag.

Yes, carrying around an umbrella in sunlight is dorky but I laugh at the idiots who scamper with newspapers on their heads when the rain comes.

I like having them. I don't lose big umbrellas. Only the compact ones... taxis, school, gym...

[e-RICHIE]

atmo - (http://http://sleevehead.blogspot.com/search?q=brollies)

[jimp1234]

You can put this brollie in your will along with your Rolex (kid will probably sell em' both to buy an Xbox, drugs, or both).... A wink's as good as a nod, ey what...


http://www.swaineadeney.co.uk/heritage/umbrellas/index.html

[Kevan]

I don't think the average American has a true appreciation for the umbrella unless they have lived and worked in a major city on the east coast. The umbrella for America got hooked in the cities, not the country or suburbs. Oh, sure things have changed some since, but the umbrella is a city tool. The cheap, wind-blown, toss-away variety are an embarrassment to the craft.

Go to London, http://www.james-smith.co.uk/ specifically, and you can get yourself custom fitted for your umbrella. You can decide on the size hook or no hook at all (maybe a carved animal's head perhaps), the finish, the type of wood, the fabric and the length. The length of a full sized umbrella is extremely important, you know. Why, on the brighter days, which are few and far between in jolly-old, it is most important that when walking with the umbrella that it strikes the ground just... at... that... proper moment so as to avoid hindering the owner's progress. Rather, it should instead support that "man about town" swagger that says, "Nothing rains on my parade."

And you best be prepared to drop some serious poundage doing so. And I don't mean weight. Take a looky at the site above. 500 quid???