Knirps: My X1- 03.21.05
REVIEW* Yes, this one’s personal, the storms that came literally ripped my previous umbrella apart, well that and possibly my super human strength as my friend claims. (it bent, completely, yes the staff/frame part) So the hunt was on.
KNIRPS: das original. The inventors of the folding umbrella. German quality at its finest now revamped with some nice design. (and thanks to mocoloco posting this a few months ago, it stuck in my head). The external case that is purse exterior friendly, and the sheer size, not to mention design quality makes it a must.
It took a bit of work to research all the options of how to get one of these (more on this after the jump). So go see European-umbrellas They are some of the nicest people, and by the time you take off VAT (tax of nearly 20%) and add some airmail shipping, your price is about the same as if you had flown out and purchased one there yourself. They also provide some great video footage of a German man teaching you how to care-for/use your umbrella.
LOTS of imagery to follow, from historical to the umbrella’s themselves. Definitely worth a look-see.
However what they DON’T tell you is how hard these things are to find. Or acquire. Especially if you’re in America, ok fair enough in Europe (or Japan apparently) you can find it in some corner shop with a few on one of the clean beautifully designed racks, but they don’t even have an American distributor. So after much internet searching, i recommend european-umbrellas.com
But once found, you will never let go, it’s just so fun to look at, a pleasure to use, and tiny, portable, different, yet classic. It makes me into one of the happy dry socal people when its pouring… here’s a collection of images to give you a taste.
From Knirps amazing HISTORY
Hi,
How well did your X1 umbrella last?
rgds/alex
----- AlexE 12.09.11 01:26