Two Canadian entrepreneurs have invented an umbrella you’re not going to want to leave behind at a restaurant.
The Cypress Umbrella – now on Kickstarter – is guaranteed to keep you dry even in the windiest weather, armed with a promise to be “ten times stronger” than any umbrella you’ve ever owned.
Meaning, it will eliminate those brutal times when a gust of wind flips your umbrella the other way and turns it into a mangled mess (when you’re already late for a meeting).
The umbrella is the brainchild of Cahay Ho and Kevin Truong, aka Team Hedgehog, two west coast designers who work out of Vancouver Hack Space.
And if anyone knows about rain, it’s our friends in Vancouver.
So, at first, they attempted to design an umbrella that replicated some of the more durable versions on the rainy west coast. But that wasn’t working.
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“After countless weeks of trying to design a smaller umbrella to compete with others, we started realizing why small umbrellas were all constructed the same: every shortcut is taken to reduce that final size and weight,” they said on Kickstarter. “If we were to compromise strength for size, it would be yet another product with a short life span.”
Most umbrellas are all built with thin skeletal frames and weak hinged joints, making them easily susceptible to wind damage.
On the other hand, The Cypress is the first umbrella to feature a fully telescopic frame architecture that combines a traditional collapsible stem with an innovative telescopic rib design. As opposed to a standard skeleton with U-shaped channels and hinged linkages, each rib is made up of tubular sections, along with precision machined joints and stainless steel pins.
Once the umbrella is opened, this design enforces what the company calls “a rigid structure 10 times stronger than traditional counterparts.”
What makes it so tough against chaotic winds is the umbrella’s automotive-inspired suspension system which function similar to the way that shocks on your car work for that smooth ride. Each rib is designed to pivot and adjust independently, and these independent movements allow the Cypress Umbrella to handle sudden shifts in airflow about the canvas, making it more aerodynamically stable.
Your umbrella can also always match both your mood and your outfit, thanks to a wide selection of canvas colours and patterns that can be interchanged within three minutes.
The umbrella also solves the common problems of missing sleeves and wet belongings in your bag. It’s complete with a deployable closure within the handle that will store the umbrella while keeping everything else dry – and it will never go missing. You may just want to check out this video for yourself:
In addition to the Cypress Umbrella is the Cypress Umbrella Classic, a full-length umbrella with wider coverage. The goal is to begin construction in March 2016, with retail prices starting at US$99.
Sure, much more expensive than you’re used to paying for an umbrella, but it sounds like it could easily be the last one you ever have to buy.
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