Blunt Umbrellas – the umbrella redesigned

Have you ever experienced strong wind during a storm making holding your umbrella difficult and most likely ripping the canopy off the wire frame or flipping it inside out?  Think again – a little New Zealand company have taken a blank sheet approach to umbrella design and called it “Blunt”

The name most likely comes from the rounded tips of the Blunt umbrella – instead of the traditional pointed end to the wire support, but more on that later.

NZ engineer Greig Brebner was probably sick to death of cheap and nasty every-day umbrellas being blown out of his hands, so he sat down and looked at what was causing the problems and set out to design a new one from scratch.

Key to his findings were that in fact the main cause of umbrella dramas was the fact that in fact the canopy of most umbrellas is in fact quite loose and can flap around in the breeze.  Greg’s Blunt Umbrellas are super strong and the canopy stretches out in the frame and sits very strong and rigid.

Greg calls his system the  “Radical Tensioning System” which isn’t far from the truth – when you push the umbrella up to open it there are double struts in the frame to distribute the force out into the ribs of the canopy to not only make opening easier, but distribute the tension all around.

Crucially, at the end of each rib which would normally point out to help poke out the eye of those around you, the tip is also covered by the fabric and underneath is almost a mini umbrella mechanism pushing the tip out into a rounded edge so there are simply no sharp points on the outside of this umbrella.

Walking down the street this is not such a radical design that people will ask “what’s that thing he’s holding” – at a glance this is just another umbrella.  It’s you the holder who benefits from the almost unbreakable design, the strong canopy and the lack of annoyed people who’ve been poked by the tips of the umbrella.

The Blunt range starts at $69 and goes up to $149 for the ultimate golf umbrella and once you start looking at the range you’ll find everything from UV protection right through to a unique “quick dry” capable model too.

Price: $69-$149
Web: Blunt Umbrellas