Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2013

Those ¥500 brollies just don’t cut it. A bit of wind and before long your purported shelter is propping up a vending machine.

Get seriously kitted up this rainy season with the Senz Umbrella. Touted as the “original storm umbrella,” this European-Japanese collaboration is aerodynamically planned to allow forward movement into winds of up to 60km/h (small)—or even 100km/h (large). It’s been tested on skis and motorbikes. And it’s won design awards.

At ¥6,825, the Senz is not cheap. But how many ¥500 coins have you spent on useless one-storm-wonders?