Talked to my brother in-law who is a police officer. I asked him with police officers being outside a lot do they use umbrellas? He stated that police officers do no use umbrellas since they like to keep their hands free. I asked him if he had seen any incidents where people had used umbrellas as a weapon or had any accidents with them? He stated that he had not but said there are probably stories of people doing both.
I then talked to my uncle who is a retired fire fighter. When asked if they used umbrellas at all, he stated that they usually have their hands full; hoses, axe, people, clearing debris. Then continued to joke about how they really do not care if they get wet, 'you know the whole hose and all, you get used to it'. With fire fighters being sent out on a lot of medical 911 calls, and car accidents, he too had not seen any accidents or heard of any, but said he is sure it has happened.
So after both interviews I came away with nothing.
My google search on accidents found that most accidents usually happened with the point / end of the umbrella above the canopy, and also from the tips of the canopy that extend out when the umbrella is open. The point / end was usually involved in accidents by; kids jabbing each other, wind tilting the umbrella and people accidentally poking people with them, and people using the umbrella as a cane or walking stick and accidentally stabbing someone in the foot. While the tips of the canopy that extend out were involved in accidents usually in crowded areas where it would jab others in the top of the head or face.
I decided to try and design an umbrella that took away both the point / end of the umbrella and the tips of the canopy.
I started sketching but couldn't get anything to work.
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