craftsman said:
I've been thinking about getting one of those umbrellas - which model do you have, and how do you like it?
I have the premium full-length one with the crook handle. It was expensive, but they do sales fairly often and they're a great company to deal with. The umbrella is extremely well made. I have not abused it like they do in their testing videos, but it will flex and return to true readily without damage.
I have only a little training in cane techniques, so if I ever used it, I would primarily rely on the bayoneted rifle grip and techniques I learned in the Army. The end is steel-tipped, rounded, and blunt. It won't cut anything, but as a jabbing impact weapon, it's pretty good. The crook is wide and has a reverse chisel tip that is not sharp and doesn't catch the eye. This is well-designed for limb and neck control techniques for people who have more training or experience than I do.
Did I mention it was well made?
I don't regret the purchase, although the biggest reason that's the case is because it's a really high quality umbrella. I wouldn't say it's windproof, but it's more so than any cheap umbrella you'd get or any expensive umbrella not expressly designed to be windproof. Canopy coverage is wide, somewhere between a regular umbrella and a golf umbrella. My wife kind of rolled her eyes a bit when I spent $200 on an umbrella, but it truly will last a lifetime and left a lot of broken cheapo umbrellas in its wake.
As a defensive tool it is too large and bulky to carry unless you have no other choice, and of course it sticks out if it's not raining. In an airport it's a good choice because umbrellas stick out less there (it could be raining anywhere you came from or are going to, after all), and because of the limits on other viable self-defense tools. And because unlike a cane, it's an umbrella.
I would rate a good cane as a slightly better striking weapon, since the canopy and canopy frame provide some slight 'padding' with cutting strikes with the shaft, but the umbrella's steel tip is a better jabbing weapon than the rubber walking tip on most canes.
Single-handed striking with the umbrella is a little more difficult as well, because the balance point is forward of the crook handle, so you're grasping it around the collapsed canopy and canopy frame, which has some slight rotational give around the main shaft and does not provide the solid grip you would have on a cane.