An Overdue Umbrella Upgrade

The recent winner of a Red Dot Design Award, the Rain Shield by Lin Min-Wei and Liu Li-Hsiang seems to offer a couple of real improvements over the centuries-old standard design.  That generous side panel protects against wind-blown rain or splashes from cars hitting puddles, or could help protect something else you're carrying.  The structure seems more robust than a normal umbrella, using bent flexible tubes instead of flimsy hinged metal ribs - a stiff wind might twist this around, but you sense that it would just bend right back.  And they didn't ignore practicality when it comes to storage, either - it wraps up into a slim disc that would fit better in a work bag than a stocky cylinder.  Sure, there are probably a couple of catches that won't be found until this hits the market - but I'd give it a shot!
[via Gizmodo]