The very first umbrella was said to be invented 21 AD and here’s how it looked.
Here’s how the umbrella of today (after almost 2,000 years) looks.
Notice how similar they look. Pay attention in particular to the pointy edges that they both have in common. Let it be clear.
I HATE THOSE SHARP POINTY EDGES.
Although to be fair I have a personal reason to hate them. You see my dear wife Shorty is 4ft9 which makes her significantly shorter than me. When she carries an umbrella and I walk next to her, I consistently and repeatedly get stabbed by its edges right in the neck. Yep perfectly around my neck.
Anyway the two pictures above give you an idea about how limited innovation there has been over the past 2 centuries let alone decades when it comes to umbrellas.
I asked around about what the pain points of an umbrella are and here’s what I got:
- The pointy edges (ok that’s me)
I don’t just hate them for their pokey tendencies but I also hate them for how they’re such an integral part of a traditional umbrella. All it takes is the umbrella to come off one of those pointy edges and you’d have a broken umbrella. We all know how often that happens too.
2. They fall apart in the wind
I never realized how big a problem this was until I went to London. I used to walk a lot in London and I’d bring an umbrella when it rains. There the wind gets so strong sometimes it blows my umbrella inside out. If it doesn’t break in the wind, it’s hard to manage
Umbrellas are essentially like sails or parachutes. When you hold them up against the wind they have a tendency to want to lift off. Every now and then in heavy wind I find myself wrestling with my umbrella against the wind.
3. They can be unreliable and difficult to open or close
This is especially annoying when you’re trying to get in or out of your car when it’s raining heavily. Each second you spend fiddling with the umbrella is another litre of rain water that gets thrown on you (Ok I exaggerate but you get my point).
These are the pain points of the umbrella and it’s surprising nobody has come up with anything to solve these pain points. Until now that is.
Google “The most advanced umbrella in the world” and the first result you’ll get is Blunt Umbrella. It’s a company started out of New Zealand that makes umbrellas that solves all of the 3 problems above so when they approached to sponsor me for a review I jumped on it.
Here’s how the umbrella looks like.
Notice a few things about it.
- It has no pointed edges.
Shorty can walk next to me with her umbrella now without stabbing me in the neck.
2. It’s designed to take wind head on and disperse it.
So you don’t have to find yourself wrestling with the umbrella.
3. It’s very very well made.
I love the way it feels when I open or close it. Feels really solid and everything mechanical that’s in the opening or closing just works.
I love the problem Blunt Umbrella solves and I love how they’ve taken something that we use every day and improved on it. Something that has seen so little innovation in the past decades until they came along.
The Blunt Umbrella is not cheap mind you but you really get what you pay for. I’m glad I have one and I’m actually thinking of buying another one as a gift for someone I know.
Anyway to check out their umbrellas click here.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space