An umbrella as a survival tool???

T

TheMartialWay

Joined
Jul 2, 1999
Messages
1,347

I was just outside smoking a cigar and it was raining a little so I brought an umbrella out with me. It got me thinking. Could an umbrella have a place as a survival tool??

It can shield you from rain, protect against harsh wind, it can be used to gather rain water or scoop up lake water.

If you have one made out of a reflective material such as that used in those space blankets, it would make a great reflective beacon device to be spotted easily in a search and rescue situation.

How about a custom made survival umbrella?

You could even have one as long as a hiking staff with a metal tip for spear fishing. A compass in the handle. Who knows what else you could add?

Is there any merit in this idea, or am I a crack head?

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive":)


 
I wonder if the inside were also reflective, could it also be used as a parabolic cooker.
 
You could put a sword blade down the shaft ala John Stead.

I always thought this would be the perfect place to hide a blade. You expect an umbrella to have a joint at the handle, and the frame is metal anyway, so any umbrella would set off a metal detector.


Mike
 
I think this idea has merit. As a matter of fact, many trekkers in Nepal carry umbrellas instead of walking sticks. This tradition may possibly be due to the British history of travel there. I don't think people would continue to carry them if they weren't useful though. It would be nice to find one that is made well enough to stand up to more than a week of use. It wouldl probably cost a fortune, but most (but not all) good gear does.

How about interchangeable covers? A blaze orange one for hunting season, camoflage, the ghillie umbrella
wink.gif
, clan tartans, and designer fabrics, ad nauseum. A frame made of titanium and carbon fiber? If you made the frame heat resistant and used a reflective material as mentioned at the top of the thread and you've got a solar cooker!! OK, that's stretching it a bit.
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I do think this is an interesting idea. It has some defensive merits too, for city dwellers.

Paul
 
Interchangable material is a great idea. You could also take the material off and use the umbrella as a climbing device. Of course this would have to be one hell of a strong umbrella. but why not?

I think the possibilities of what you could add to this "survival umbrella" are endless.

There could even be a compact version for those who travel light.

I don't think boiling water in it is that far fetched. It just comes down to having the right materials.

The Large version could be the size of a staff. It could have a pointy base so you can stake it right into the ground and open it like a picnic table umbrella. It could even have straps on the top so you could tie rope to them and stake them into the ground. It would be like a portable lean to, or circus tent.

Keep the ideas comming. I think this could be going places.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive":)


 
Well, gettign wet leads to heat lose, heat lose can lead to hypothermia, which can lead to death. Yes an umbrella could be considered a survival tool in my opinion. If nothing else it could make a nice dome top of an emergency shelter.

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Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde
 
As long as you are going to make it larger, and reinforce the frame, why not make the center pole into a collapsible paddle? Instant boat!


Mike
 
TMW -- you're not a crack head, you're a cigar head (that cigar, btw, won't help your chances of survival)
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Oh, what the hell, I'll vote AGAINST the unbrella-as-survival-tool. I stopped carrying umbrellas a few years ago bc I constantly lost them. More importantly, however, ever notice how umbrellas really only keep your HEAD dry, and block wind as well as a sieve?

All those modifications sound like they'd make an unbrella "a bit" too heavy to be practical. (I mean, how *heavy* would it be w/all those hip features?)

But then again, while we're at it, why not turn the canopy frame into helicopter blades a la Inspector Gadget? Now THAT would be worth the extra weight!

Yours in dry solidarity,
Glen
 
All of the features discussed thus far are not really "added" features. They are just structural improvements on the existing materials. As far as adding a compass and a metal tip, that would not make a noticable difference in weight at all.

I think an umbrella does an excellent job of blocking wind and rain. It sometimes depends on a few factors, such as the umbrella's size and more importantly it's shape. They even have those deep, more dome like umbrella's that somewhat enclose your body.

If you were sitting indian style under one of these you could probably cover your whole body.



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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
-------------

"only the paranoid will survive":)


 
Ray Jardine, in his "Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Handbook", recommends carrying an umbrella with mylar on top. Portable shade when hiking through the desert.

Can also help to block out rain at one end of a tube tent.

I recall a post on the Pacific Crest Trail hikers list of a woman who put mosquito netting around her umbrella. It would hang down to below her waist. She could stop and comfortably eat lunch under her umbrella with mosquitos swarming around.

Bill
http://www.caliberdt.com/~bill/survival.htm
 
Can't tell you where to get it created, but I would check out travel stores and umbrella shops to find the most sturdy "bows" (?) or whatever you call them that stretch the material of the top. If the handle is hollow, you could put in a mini-kit as well as a small blade which could be afixed to the handle cap. Add a button compass and wrap the handle in "pretty" paracord. A gortex material top would be nice.

Some years ago I believe someone (possibly Second Chance?) experimented with a ballistic umbrella made of kevlar. Add the above stuff and a waterproof cover and you might indeed have a neat idea.
 
I'd disagree with the gore-tex fabric, because breathability isn't the biggest concern with umbrellas, being that they are open on the sides. The space blanket, though, is a good idea, the OD or orange on one side silver on the other would be the best IMHO (the kind that are like tarps, not the thin ones). A golf type umbrella would be best becouse is has a large canopy. But maybe a little longer for use as a staff. It would have to be sturdier than most curently are.

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"Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today"
-- James Dean
 
Originally posted by BillQ:
Ray Jardine, in his "Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Handbook", recommends carrying an umbrella with mylar on top. Portable shade when hiking through the desert.
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Click to expand...

Bill, ya beat me to it! He also talks about the umbrella in "Beyond Backpacking."

A company called Golite is marketing backpacking equipment based on Jardine's designs. Here is the umbrelly.
http://www.golite.com/domeumb.html

They don't really say a heck of a lot about the design of the thing so I don't know if it is similar to Jardine's design in materials.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Many years ago, a co-worker was selling small umbrellas that folded up very slim and withdrew into a heavy-duty plastic tube. When the umbrella was open, the tube became a long handle. This could be adapted as a hiking staff pretty easily.

As a 'survival tool', small folding umbrellas, called "dogbrellas" were issued to letter carriers in some areas. The idea was, if attacked by dogs -- unfortunately, all too common, and no joke for the carrier being attacked -- the umbrella would be popped open, and flapped in and out, scaring off the dog.

I was walking home one night through Central Park in New York in the rain, and a Doberman came out of the dark, snapping and snarling at me. I lowered my umbrella and flapped it at her, and off she ran.
 
Great thread,

This reminds me of a cartoon drawn in a children's magazine I read 20 years ago. Kids were asked to figure out cool things that can be improvised with an umbrella. Let me try to remember some of them:

1. Telescoptic shaft as fishing pole

2. Hollow shaft as blow gun

3. Opened umbrella as radio transmitter/reciever dish

4. Bullet proof umbrella

5. Improvised tent

6. Hiking stick



[This message has been edited by tallwingedgoat (edited 09-24-2000).]
 
It should have some sort of heat resistant material for the canopy and this way you can boil water and cook in it.A sword would be a good device to intergrate it into the handle and this could be removed and used as a machete for light brush clearing and defense/or survival hunting.The canopy should be large enough though, to provide adequate shelter.Regards,Ralph
 
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