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# My umbrella turned inside out at the first windy corner
- URL: https://www.thefrictionlog.com/09450/
- Published: 2026-09-25T22:02:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T15:26:49.000Z
- Description: Filed: the 1700s · Patched · vented canopies and ribs that bend
- Author: The Clerk
- Tags: Patched

*Eleven dollars at the train station. It made it one block.* — Commuter, 2018

Umbrellas got common in Europe in the 1700s, with ribs made of cane and whalebone. Steel ribs came along in the 1850s at about half the weight, and they still flip. A plain umbrella catches the wind like a sail, and when the pressure builds up underneath, over it goes. The patent office keeps a whole category for inventions meant to stop that. The ones that hold up let the wind out through vents in the canopy and use ribs that bend instead of snapping. You get what you pay for.

**For now**: tip the umbrella into the wind instead of holding it straight up.