At Ergonomad, we think that the devil is in the details and the design work & decision that went into the Undercover Umbrella is substantial but can often go unnoticed. So we thought it's the perfect time to talk about what we did (and didn't do) to make us the umbrella we wanted.
Improving Wind Resistance
One of the first things you will notice with our umbrella is that is has two levels to our canopy. The main reason is that the gap will allow wind to pass through the canopy better with lower chances of flipping your umbrella over. (Don't worry, the canopies overlap one another enough that you will stay dry anyway!) This is exact same concept for high end golf umbrellas which we've adapted for the smaller & portable umbrella design.
You might also notice that the umbrella has 9 ribs. Most umbrella have 6 or 8 ribs. After multiple testing, we landed with 9 to balance between the weight of the umbrella (every rib adds to the weight!) and additional support against the wind.
To keep our umbrella light and portable, we also used resin-reinforced fiberglass ribs which are lighter compared to aluminum and flexes slightly which helps with wind-resistances.
Canopy Material
While most umbrellas use some form a pongee material, you will find that they usually end up absorbing water like a towel after use and just won't stop dripping.
We didn't like wet carpets that much so we decided to combine a high density pongee material with Teflon technology to give it that superior water repellence that we were looking for. By combining the two, water (or any other liquids) will bead up and roll off.
That means your umbrella will dry off a lot faster (because it isn't soaking up all the liquids) and keeps you dry.
(We do recommend that you leave your umbrella to dry off after use as there will be a small amount of moisture within the umbrella and may cause rust / damage to your umbrella in the long term)
How We Handle Matters
We wanted something that was compact and comfortable to hold, something that is designed to fit nicely into your hand without adding significant footprint on the umbrella.
In addition to the design, we wanted to make sure that your umbrella stays in your hand when you need it to, so we decided to use a rubberised material. And to really secure your grip, we added a soft strap which is comfortable and easy to use at the same time.
If you were wondering why our logo on the handle looks a little bit off, that's because we designed it to look the right side up when you store them (with the handle side up)!
We Got You Covered
We've gotten a lot of positive comments from existing customers about our pouch design. There are basically two elements of standard pouch designs on most umbrellas that really drove us crazy:
- We keep losing them - have this happened to you? You take the pouch out to use your umbrella and when you arrive at your destination, it's gone!
- They are really hard to remove and store - we didn't understand why some pouches needed so much force to remove and then pin point accuracy to slot your umbrella back into them
We added a small hook on the pouch to make sure you never lose your umbrella after use again. Then, we designed a large velcro opening so it's easy to remove and replace your umbrella.
We've also designed our straps to be long enough and velcro opening wide enough so you don't need to unhook the pouch when using. (Really convenient!)
Opening and Closing
As really fussy people, we didn't like having to manually push open your umbrella when you need it the most. The usually means you've drenched part of your hands / long-sleeve clothing in the rain just to get your umbrella to work.
So, we decided on using an automatic spring loaded mechanism which allows you to open up and collapse your umbrella with the touch of a button.
Opening mechanism:
Closing mechanism in action:
Compact and Lightweight
And finally, we kept the Undercover Umbrella in a portable and compact form factor. The umbrella folds to only 12.5 inches in length and weighing less than 1 pound so you can carry it with you anywhere with ease or fit it in your bags.
And there you have it, the ingredients for what we think makes the perfect umbrella for travel or your everyday commute.
One More Thing...
Each Ergonomad Travel Umbrella comes with our product lifetime replacement warranty and 90-day 100% money back guarantee.
If anything goes wrong with your umbrella, our highly rated UK-based customer service team will send you a replacement at no additional expense to you.
You can get your Undercover Umbrella today from our website and use our limited time 10% OFF and free UK delivery by clicking here.
(If you click on the link above, the discount code should apply automatically when you check out!)