With rain, wind and some snow in the forecast for the next week in the Northeast, it's time to find an umbrella that doesn't suck.
Skip the street vendors (whose umbrellas will probably end up crushed and inverted in a few blocks) and go straight for ShedRain's Windjammer. It earned top honors as the most durable umbrella from several product review outlets, including a grade-A report from the genre's Holy Grail, Good Housekeeping.
ShedRain - headquartered in Portland, Ore. - knows a thing or two about how to make an umbrella that will weather any storm. The key to the Windjammer is its vented design, which helps it withstand wind gusts. The material also dries within seconds of getting wet.
Canopy size starts at 39 inches and the whole thing weighs 0.8 pounds, which is a little on the heavy side. But it gives you the strength and durability that helped make the umbrella popular with pro golfers. It folds down to 12 inches and comes with a lifetime guarantee, so you'll get a free replacement if it ever breaks in the wind.
The best part is, you don't have to break the bank for a top-of-the-line umbrella. The Windjammer starts under $35 and the comparable GustBuster Metro starts under $40.