The Umbrella Reinvented
kazbrella.com
kazbrella.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BLYLrdOXe8 has examples of the umbrella unfurling and the motivations behind the design.
The video for their kickstarter campaign was also very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmvoU9cRzn4
According to their kickstarter page they are funded and starting manufacturing soon.
English press story at http://www.damngeeky.com/2013/12/11/16246/unbrella-solves-th...
Minor marketing fail that while the Kazbrella solves the 'brush against other people's pants' problem, it doesn't solve the 'drip water on the floor problem', yet the promotional video implies it will.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phdeprKdVwU [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BLYLrdOXe8
the normal double fold umbrella (not sure how it is called) has similar mechanism, the difference is that it double folds which makes the folded umbrella smaller.
https://www.google.it/search?q=double+fold+umbrella&source=l...
What do you mean? From the video it seems pretty clear that it does. With a regular umbrella there's no way to carry it without dripping water; with this one, the water's on the inside, so you can carry it without dripping.
Of course you still need to dry it out somehow, e.g. let it drip into a bucket; that part of the video is probably misleading.
What makes you think the video is faking it?
There's a reason the umbrella has stayed practically the same all these years...
My main problem with this umbrella design is just that it's longer than I like. I prefer compact umbrellas.
"KAZbrella is a symbol of inventive thinking. A design unchanged for 3000 years is turned inside out. "
Uh, no, that is factually incorrect!
There are one-hinge umbrellas which are the traditional kind. There are three-hinge umbrellas which are the highly compact kind. And now they've "invented" a two-hinge umbrella. Color me unimpressed.
https://www.google.com/search?q=three+hinge+umbrella
I don't know exactly when the three hinge compact umbrella was invented, but they have existed for as long as I can remember. So that puts them at least 20-30 years old. And the technology isn't terribly complicated, though it does rely on fairly small diameter tubes with very thin walls. It wouldn't surprise me too much to learn that three hinge umbrellas were 100 years old or more.
So while they may have been the first people to make a two-hinge umbrella they were certainly not the first to improve on the single hinge design.
Destroyed itself in a gust of wind the first time I tried to use it.
Sigh.
I own a couple of them, they work amazingly well. You can even use them on a bike with heavy wind.
No comment.
[1]: http://www.euroschirm.com/schirm/LightTrek/index.cgi?sprache... [2]: davekny.com/products/the-davek-solo-2
Apart from that, it seems to be more convenient to open and close in a crowded environment (metro stairs in rush hour) than the traditional design.
How? It looks like the opening is opposite the handle, so assuming people are holding their umbrellas by the handle, any water on the umbrella would just gradually slide to the ground, just as if the umbrella were the normal sort.
So you can choose: either carry it the traditional way (hold the handle, with the umbrella pointed at the ground) which allows the "cup" pour all the water down onto the floor, or hold it "upside down" so the "cup" doesn't spill out.
I already solved my problems with umbrellas by buying a wide-brimmed hat instead. It reduced my needs for both sunglasses and umbrellas, and does not need to be stowed or carried.
In any case, my greatest problem with traditional umbrella design is inversion due to wind, not trying to enter a vehicle with it or the fact that it gets wet. Those problems have all been solved (separately) anyway. Inversion is mitigated by venting the canopy. Entering a vehicle is improved by one-handed, spring-assisted collapse levers in the handle. Its inherent wetness can be mitigated by hydrophobic fabric as the canopy. If the water does not stick, the dripping issue is solved by one shake before entering the dry space.
None of these problems seem to be helped much by making the canopy collapse in the opposite direction. I remain concerned that an inversion due to wind might not just be inconvenient, but that it will also damage the structure of this new product, or even force it to collapse instead of just invert its canopy.
I scrolled up and down multiple times looking for something along the lines of 'find out more'.
When I refound the learn more button, it just scrolled me down.
I was about to leave the site, and just noticed the tiny navigation in the upper right.
If your sell is Innovation, you need to prove it.
Maybe the idea is nice but I don't think this is how you should promote your product.
I remember seeing this over a year ago being rejected in BBC's show Dragons' Den.
[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1243275397/air-umbrella
Takes more room (envision this in either a car, a bus, or a train), cumbersome to carry (you basically have to hold it up your shoulder, parasol-style, which means it will catch wind even if it doesn't rain), and the in/underside of the canopy will be wet by the time you deploy it.
(Opinion formed on basis of the front page. Didn't watch a video)
By having it as a proprietary products, the product is relegated to a niche market, that too in a Umbrella market where people would be reluctant to shift from the time-tested design.
* Walking in the wind - when it's blustery, I get blown all over the place. Even if the umbrella is strong enough to withstand the wind, it's difficult to walk with one.
* I frequently lose my umbrella, which is why I wouldn't pay more than £5 for one. I often leave it on public transport or at someone's house. At work, people also have a tendency to 'borrow' my umbrella permanently.
* If I'm walking anything more than a mile, holding an umbrella the whole way can be annoying, but I don't want to be an uber-nerd with an umbrella attached to my head. I want something that does the job of an umbrella for the price of an umbrella but looks like a hat or coat.
Failing that, I'll stick with a £5 umbrella from the supermarket.
A quality cowboy hat, sou'wester, or fedora (an actual fedora, not a fashion-accessory trilby masquerading as one) made of water-resistant fur-felt, oilskin, or leather, and a prairie duster, slicker, poncho, or trench coat, made from similarly waterproofed materials, cover just about every use case where umbrellas fail.
The umbrella is actually not much use except when you are just walking from one sheltered area to another, and don't need to actually do anything in the rain. For that, I can ignore all of the minor problems with cheap umbrellas, because I consider them as semi-disposable convenience items.
If I ever thought I needed a truly fine-quality umbrella, I'd spend that money on a nice hat instead.
Am I missing something here? Are people actually excited about a minor change to the design of an umbrella?
Getting in an out of a car, staying dry. A) not as big of a problem as they show, but also B) if could do similar bad acting of me getting out of a car trying to open up the kazbrella and being annoyed that in poking the umbrella out of the car I got the supposed-to-be-dry-side wet and now it's dripping on me.
Won't drip water inside? No, it won't if you hold it upside down. But now you're carrying a pool of water with you. Careful opening it. And the umbrella will be even worse at drying in tight quarters when you can't open it up.
Dry side is on outside so it doesn't get things wet. They show somebody placing it on seating. Yep, now that pool of water is spilling in some direction. Also, if you do have the umbrella outside and it suddenly starts to rain, the side that's supposed to remain dry is the one getting wet until you get the thing opened up.
It was probably a fun project to design, but I don't think it's as useful as they want you to think it is.
I mean it seems like a nice design and it does suck getting into a car with an umbrella.
I mean, if you want to improve the umbrella, you could make one with a highly reflective inner surface that doubles as a solar oven. Maybe even a solar oven on the top surface that works on sunny days, so you can keep the sun off you and cook food, at the same time. Or, I like umbrellas that have useful information printed on them, like subway maps. Or, how about a hollow handle made of clear material that lets you measure how much it's raining. Or maybe an umbrella on a gimbal, so that if it's windy some of the energy can be absorbed by angular momentum.
It sounds like a really good design actually.
I don't like gimmicks.
> Pure Engineering
I do like engineering.
> The KAZbrella is an evolution of the conventional umbrella.
OK, tell me more.
> Through many years of research and engineering we have redesigned the mechanics of the umbrella whilst maintaining the familiar umbrella look.
I'm on the hook...
> The KAZbrella is a patented reverse folding umbrella.
And... letdown. It's an umbrella that folds the other way...
Sure, maybe the outside of it while folded won't "press up against your leg, soaking your trousers and bag and drips on the already wet floor", but this means the water stays trapped on the inside of the folded creases, leading to mildew and a musty smell, and the rest still "drips on the already wet floor".
I don't see this thing taking the world by storm anytime soon.
The canopy is made from breathable material with a hydrophobic coating so the water beads and rolls off the canopy without being absorbed. The KAZbrella is no more likely to get mould than a conventional umbrella. Mould will only occur if you leave dirt or mud on your KAZbrella.