I've had this umbrella for three years and have appreciated the shape and size, the mechanism, the attractive appearance, and the nice wooden handle. But today I was out on a windy day and when it turned inside out (which good umbrellas are designed to tolerate), a small length of retaining wire that basically holds the mechanism together came undone and the thing flew into pieces. I rescued all the pieces from the ground, hoping to try to put it back together, and I can see how it goes together, but I can't get the wire retaining ring to stay together. Maybe there was a tiny part that flew off, but whatever the situation, it can't be fixed by me. Pretty disappointing for a $45 umbrella that's supposed to be able to handle bad weather. I'd have given it one star except that I did enjoy using it before it self-destructed.

By the way, the Knirps website describes a two-year guarantee against "manufacturing defects". My umbrella is three years old, so that disqualifies me right away, but I wonder if it would be covered, anyway, since the failure seems to be a design weakness, not a manufacturing defect (though who knows ...).