I really do like this umbrella, and really enjoyed it since I opened the box. It looks great, and I've had a ton of people asking me about it when they see it. IT comes in a nice black sleeve with a shoulder strap, which makes it pack down a little bit more nicely and makes it a little easier to travel. I know I also feel better about it protecting the end of the umbrella (which is where all of the weak little metal rods end) when it's in the sheath.

There are a few quality issues which I'm not as happy to share. Full disclosure, we've had a lot of rain in the past few weeks, so it got a really intense testing as soon as I got it. The fabric quality feels really light and flimsy, and I felt a lot as if I was going to rip it. The rods too seemed to bend a lot, which made putting it down in my car awkward, as you have to set it on those flimsy metal ends the it closes. I had a hard time getting the umbrella to both fully open and fully close, too, and so the end always seemed to be fanning too wide and would catch on things as I tried to set it down. The biggest problem though is the catch that locks the umbrella into place when it's fully open. Often the catch wouldn't set right away, and so it took several pushes upward for it to lock into place and keep me dry. This was kind of awkward, and there wasn't much of a tactile feeling of it being secure. Overall, it does the job but doesn't feel very high quality and doesn't seem to be as durable as I'd like.

I really like this umbrella. It has been raining the last couple of days and I have stayed dry when begging into and out of my car. This is the best umbrella I have had in a long time. Even though it is not very compact it will keep you from getting wet when you have to close it up and put it on the passenger side of you car. I would recommend this to anyone who has to walk in the rain to get to there car.

The inside of my car is dry even on super rainy days. So far has held up to wind and the handle really works to hold it while your hands are busy. The color is all on the inside, but that's OK because that's what I see. The little ventilation holes in the colored side help it dry quickly. This is a good purchase!

I have low to moderate pain in my hands. This umbrella seems sturdy enough, but I could find NO way to hold this that was comfortable. It's heavy and it put pressure on my fingers and wrists joints when I tried to grab the C-handle anywhere - at the base. it forces my fingers together awkwardly, and holding on the tall curve causes a feeling of imbalance. When I try to hold above the C, there is not enough girth to make gripping comfortable. I lose $6 trying to return a $16 umbrella so it's not worth the return. Just for the record, I am a female with medium sized hands. Maybe if you had both hands free, you could make this work, but how often does that happen? And also, I didn't try it in the rain, so that adds weight and pressure to holding it. This is a long, heavy umbrella -- the cover comes with a shoulder strap, so that should tell you that it's weighty, but the problem with the cover is that it's extremely difficult to get it back on the umbrella once you take it off, and I was putting it back on New. I imagine after a few uses, the cover will be useless. I took off a star for each issue - difficulty with the handle design and the cover.

This is a pretty well made umbrella. That said...I bought this with a trip in mind. I didn't think about the length until it came and I set it by my suitcase and realized there was no packing it in either my 21" or my 25". So the functionality of this umbrella gives it a 4 instead of a 5 star. I returned it and there was no hassle there. I like the inverted style, but I don't think that is available in the shorter folding type umbrella.