Rainy season has started in NY, and I've never bought an umbrella in my life (I've always been hoodie-ing it). Time to drop some dollars to keep me dry.

@Jaewonchang had some good things to say about the Blunt... any other tips?

$50 is a lot to pay for an umbrella that you'll probably lose carrying around NYC. Since you often leave them in buckets by the front door or check them at a museum, I've lost tons over the years.

If you really want a fancy one, check these out:
The video gets pretty awesome around 1 minute in.

amazon.com

That said, I usually just get the $10 big umbrella from random bodegas, with the wooden handle. It's big enough for 2 people if you need it, and keeps you very dry, and is just the right price/quality ratio so if you lose it, you don't feel so bad, but it's good enough to not fall apart after using it twice.

LOL @ that video.

I'm a super clumsy person, but I realized when it's an expensive one, I do keep track of my umbrella and not lose it. When the weather gets bad, I'll prime one of these fancy ones and give it a shot.

Oh the one feature that I think might be worth spending a little extra $$ on is the "auto-close" umbrellas. Hopping into a cab with one hand or trying to open your building door and close your umbrella at the same time can be tricky sometimes. With an auto-close thing you just hit a button and it collapses.

Funny story: I didn't understand the auto-close on my REI umbrella for at least 6 months, I thought I had broken something, that's why it was closing on its own. :D