What a pleasant surprise! This umbrella has the smoothest opening mechanism that really sets the tone for a very nice day even in the nastiest rain. It folds nicely and will not suddenly open again as long as you click it into place. It is compact enough when closed to fit into a tiny purse. All in all it is a great find at a price that will not cause raindrops to fall from your eyes. Read more
We have a couple of full size, name-brand, wind-proof umbrellas that work well plus a couple of small ‘travel umbrellas’ similar to this one from SmartTrends. The attached photo shows those latter umbrellas to the right of this one. The opening/closing mechanism works well, just like the one to its right in the photo and it feels better made than that umbrella. I don’t, however, like the handle on either of them, finding it too short to hold the umbrella securely. To be fair, the Amazon listing does say the handle is only 2.7” long but the umbrella on the far right in the photo has a much beefier handle. The Amazon listing describes this umbrella as windproof and as wind-resistant. I doubt that the former is true, our larger ‘windproof’ umbrellas have a vented design that allows wind to escape without compromising their rejection of rain. This SmartTrends umbrella seems pretty standard by comparison. That said, it is a good choice to take along if size and weight are a concern. Read more
