Battling the Elements: Umbrella Innovation, Part 2
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Image via Metro
Regarding the previous post, I was curious to see that the four-finger grip design invariably alludes to brass knuckles, whether it’s made from aluminum or ABS. But the handle is perhaps less intimidating a quasi-weapon than the business end of the umbrella: even a compact umbrella can be a makeshift bludgeoning implement when the chips are down. Hell, a Charlemagne-quoting Sean Connery even took down a fighter plane with one in his memorable turn as Henry Jones, Sr…. and then there’s also the legendary “Bulgarian umbrella,” which allegedly delivered a lethal dose of ricin to Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov during the Cold War.
It so happens that I learned of Markov’s assassination via Wikipedia, when I was looking up the toxic substance during a Breaking Bad binge (you know how it goes); so too did I discover another interesting umbrella concept via the all-but-omniscient encyclopedia when researching the Brolly.
Image via Tuxboard
About two years ago, the Daily Mail reported that the security detail of the least popular leader in French history would be equipped with a bespoke kevlar umbrella in case of inclement weather or malcontents. Apparently, former president Nicolas Sarkozy felt so threatened by March 2011 that his bodyguards were packing an an all-but-bulletproof parapluie, known as the “Para Pactum” (‘prepare for peace’ in Latin). The otherwise unassuming aegis deploys in the same fashion as your $5 Chinatown umbrella but offers protection from “knives, acids, rocks and most other projectiles” in addition to more commonly-encountered nuisances such as water falling from the sky.
A source at the elite RAID police unit, which tested the umbrella alongside the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering Institute in Saint-Cyr, said it would prove invaluable to Mr Sarkozy.
“He’s had all kinds of missiles aimed at him from above, especially on visits to high-rise housing estates where he’s particularly unpopular,’ said the source. “This umbrella will keep him pretty safe. It won’t stop bullets, but it will reduce their impact considerably.”
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