The Aahbrella product reviews

It's not very often you see something that is genuinely innovative these days because a lot of "new" ideas are actually "old" ideas that have either been rehashed or had a very small tweak added. While you could be forgiven for thinking this is another of those, I have to say that this really impressed me, but not for the reasons the marketing hype touts.

For a start, this umbrella doesn't dump water on you when you close it in a tight space, the way regular umbrellas can do. Think about it like this... you have just climbed into your car, pulled the door almost shut, and the umbrella is covering the gap at the top of the door. Great, perfect, just what it should be doing. But in order to fold it down, you must push it up so that the handle is almost above the edge of the door, then fold the umbrella down. That causes water to run down the outer surface, onto your arm and into your car. Then you have to give it a shake, pull it in, and close the door. All that time, rain is getting in.

Now try it again with this little beauty... the centre of the brolly pulls down toward you, turning the top surface into the inside of a cup. All that water is trapped. Quickly rotating the Aahbrella down the gap in your door, you up-end it, dump the water, and pull the door shut. Takes about half the time, so that means less rain gets in, and not a drop of the trapped water ever headed your way, so no freezing cold, soggy armpits while you drive.

I tested one of these for nearly a week in the horrible rain and very strong winds during the storm that hit the North Island near the middle of May, and not once did I fear that this would turn inside out in a gust while it was open. In fact, the strong winds were useful, in that all I had to do to protect myself was point the Aahbrella into the wind, and it opened itself up enough to block the worst of the rain while I finished the opening process... something no ordinary umbrella would be capable of! Trying to open a regular brolly into the wind is an awkward and frustrating experience at the best of times, let alone in storm conditions.

Overall, if I had to buy one, would I? In a flat second, I would! Would I recommend it to anyone? Most certainly, in fact, I have pointed at least a dozen people to the Aahbrella website to buy one, in the full assurance that they will be as amazed and satisfied with their new Aahbrella as I am. This is Kiwi smarts in action, and I'm always chuffed when someone sees me on the street with mine and asks me what the heck it is. My ONLY gripe is a fundamental one though - the little pins at the ends of the arms end up acting like feet when you close and stand the unit up. Because of this, you have to be gentle. I went to stand the aahbrella up after using it the other day, and two of the metal clips snapped off. Now, when I open the aahbrella up, the liner doesn't stretch fully, and it's stressing the other legs a lot. I fully expect it to be useless within a few months, especially with the high winds hitting the area lately. TAKE CARE, be gentle, and you should be fine though.

In the photo linked to this review, you can see me pouring almost 1 litre of water out of the Aahbrella after I got home during a rainstorm... and the underside of the Aahbrella (which becomes the outside when you fold it shut) is still bone dry! ALL of the water stayed away from me. You can see one of the broken clips in the image - just below the half-way point on the open (left) side.