TIRED of getting soaked when your umbrella is blown inside out? Then you should have an umbrella with holes in it, says a Hong Kong-based inventor whose new idea goes on show this week.
The umbrella of the future, according to designer Anil Vora, will have four holes the size of golf balls covered by triangular flaps to let the wind through.
That may sound like a fool's way of getting wet but Mr Vora claims his brolly, called the Gusty, has passed wind tunnel tests at gale force and has notched up 300,000 sales.
He said the Gusty can resist winds of up to 110 km/h and in normal showers no raindrops slip through.
Mr Vora, of firm Global Inventions, said the design of the 'flip' was so technically sophisticated that he was unable to explain it in detail over the telephone.
'When you open the umbrella, you will see the holes with the triangular covering flap-flipping on top. You can see clear holes from underneath the umbrella but it's guaranteed that no water will slip through as the flaps are bigger than the holes,' Mr Vora explained.