Umbrella Review: Senz Vs. Gustbuster

I recently got a Senz umbrella to see how it compared with the Gustbusters I already own.

Basically, there's no comparison. Gustbuster is entirely the winner.

The Senz has an interesting design, it's basically a regular umbrella, with most of the fabric cut away. The remaining fabric just doesn't have enough diameter to suffer from the wind. So sure, it can withstand 70 mile-per-hour winds, but that's because the part that covers you is almost the size of a dinner plate. It didn't protect me from the rain at all, except maybe for a bit of my face.

The Senz also has one small portion of itself that's like the brim of a baseball cap, sticking out. This is its claim to fame. Unfortunately, that little flap is so flexible it whips around in the wind, gouging unsuspecting eyes, and letting the rain pass freely down from above.

The Gustbuster, on the other hand, is a full-sized umbrella, in fact the ones I have are larger than full-sized. Its design uses holes in the main area of fabric, so the wind can blow upwards and out the top of the umbrella. But on its top side, the holes are covered by flaps that can lift up on elastic bands to let the air out from below, but that are immediately closed by the elastics when each gust ends. They don't flap down into the holes, so no air or rain will go down onto you, but plenty will blow upwards.

There are other umbrellas with this type of design, but those are very cheap imitations that have not been really tested (at least that's been the case with all the ones I've seen). Gustbuster umbrellas really withstand the wind. The rain slashes down, the wind crashes from all directions, and the umbrella is really undisturbed. It's only when I look around and see how much difficulty everyone around me is having with their umbrellas, that I realize it's actually a very windy storm. The Gustbuster stays stable and calm. And it's a really large umbrella. I stay dry. And the two people under the umbrella with me also stay dry. And the people passing by say, "wow, that's a big  umbrella. Why isn't it flying down the street? Or laying inside-out on the ground?" And I reply, "it's a Gustbuster."

They really are great. I do give props to the Senz folks for coming up with an interesting idea. But the umbrella problem has really already been solved. I've never seen an umbrella that comes even remotely close to Gustbuster for withstanding windy days, and keeping me and my friends dry and comfy.

Here's an ad-type video about it, masquerading as news. It's still right though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZQuhrftV-M