Umbrellas

[Krazy Krow]

I bought a new umbrella yesterday. It opens and closes by just pressing a button. Is this an old thing to everyone else? Before coming to Japan I lived in semi-arid Calgary, so the only umbrella my family owned is 20 years old.

I've been playing with this thing for the past 20 minutes. 'Brella goes up, 'brella goes down. 'Brella goes up...

[Happy-pillz-pop-star]

so calergy is the canadian word for under a rock? com'on krow every one has one of those...

[The Eagle and Child]

pfft. You probably can't even find umbrellas like those here. Anything more than a square of canvas you hold over your head is a waste.

[Krazy Krow]

It hardly ever rains in Calgary. Even when it does rain, most people don't use umbrellas. They just get wet.

[Magicide]

Nope, never heard of an automatic umbrella. But if it's anything like my dad's car it's probably a good thing. As soon as you really need it, it will freeze up and you will be very wet. Also of note, expensive leather doesn't dry very well when it's soaked.

In Calgary and Edmonton, I think it rained twice this year. Normally it rains 3 or 4 times and you get at least one rain where you can hear it thundering on the roof. This year we got showers and that's it. But we did get a massive dump of snow compared to normal so it's all good unless you have to drive.

[IAmMe]

WOW

If you want rain just come and visit me, I'ts been raining for 3 days now and then about another 4 months in total

[Krazy Krow]

But isn't England rain just a drizzle? I want sheets of the stuff pouring down!

[IAmMe]

We have all sorts of rain, fron a light mist, to, using a local phrase,"Comming down like stair-rods".

[MTalos]

the button down is a new one to me.

[Doctor Ray]

Mr. President technology required is easily within the means of even the smallest nuclear power, it requires only the will to do so.

Seriously, I've been using button umbrellas all of my life and it has put me in a wheelchair.

[Krazy Krow]

When I first heard of button-down umbrellas, I thought they would be based on minimum energy levels. That the spring system would be designed so that energy is at a peak at mid-extension, and the button is really more of a lever required to push the umbrella half-cycle, at which point the spring takes over and completes the motion. But it really only closes halfway, so the conservation of energy isn't violated. I've heard of older designs requring the mechanism to be cocked by pushing it on the ground before opening the umbrella, but this is really a more elegant solution.