American industrialists try to build better mousetraps, but northern Europeans apparently need better umbrellas. The SENZ Umbrella has been designed to directly fill a need - to prevent a strong wind from turning an umbrella inside out. The SENZ team has redesigned the umbrella to be both stronger and more aerodynamic. The asymmetric shape keeps the rain from hitting the face, and it acts as a weather vane to help reorient the canopy for maximum protection. The SENZ Original opens up to about one square meter, and the Mini folds down to a typical handbag size.

The designers have even addressed the "eye poke effect" from those little metal caps that stick out the sides of conventional umbrellas. SENZ has capped the ends of the umbrella spines with flat and wide plastic disks to protect the ever important eyesight.

The company's goal is to take everyday objects and to redesign the piece from the ground up to restructure how we live our lives. Their umbrellas are a great first step in the right direction, and many more products are planned for the future. The umbrellas are retailing for €49.95 and €39.95 direct from the web store, but delivery is a bit behind schedule due to overwhelming demand. Sadly, we in the USA are going to have to wait a bit, but there's an email list for future availability announcements.