Blue Collar Limousine

Hey Everyone,

In a world of self driving cars, someone recently shared a video of a "self driving" umbrella or so to speak. This video that went viral was dubbed the “Blue-collar limousine”. This featured a janitor taking his trusted mop bucket and equipped with an umbrella and leaf blower; he was able to roam around and explore the streets of Florida. If you haven’t seen this, check out him below! 

Fastest Mop Bucket in the World!

After seeing this ingenious method of travel, the lightbulb in sparked in our head and we pondered: “Hey, can we do the same thing?” We shared a lot of commonality here; our umbrellas don’t flip and we got some pretty damn powerful leaf blowers! We traded in a mop bucket for a furniture dolly and now we’re talking business! Before we roam around the city, let’s confirm if this actually works.

As fast as a ..... rock?

First test ended up in a pretty big fail as you can see above. No matter the blower configuration; we could barely move an inch! Our umbrella didn’t flip but it was diverting the entire wind flow even when aiming inches from the umbrella itself.

On to Plan B: What if we reduce the load capacity? We searched for the tiniest and lightest person for the next test. Armed with the same umbrella and blower, fueled by junior chickens and weighing at only 103 lbs; we tried to defy the umbrella gods once again!

Strike 2! Similar tests, similar results and once again, we couldn't even budge an inch! Before we strike out completely, let’s examine the science behind why this is happening. 

Our WindFlex suspension system is designed such that it diverts wind flow rather than absorbing the impact. Through the dynamic rib structure, our umbrella doesn’t create the same “parachute” effect like other umbrellas and hence in a windstorm, you won’t get dragged around the streets. When trying to create this “reverse parachute” driving methodology; we were unable to build enough thrust to carry one from point A to point B. 

Also, a big reason why you shouldn’t try to attempt a “Mary Poppins” with our umbrella (a common question we often get asked; most jokingly… some serious 😟)

Or else you might end up like this instead (minus the umbrella flipping inside out)!

Until next time for another round of umbrella debunking!

Team Hedgehog