I was quite surprised by the overall quality of this product. Between the open comment of this umbrella having a plastic handle and the relatively cheap price point of only $29.99 I was convinced that this was going to be a purchase I would regret.

I was already imagining this to be an all plastic umbrella with thin, flimsy fabric and a hollow plastic handle. I was so convinced of this I even talked a coworker not to get one as well, or not until he had a chance to see mine.

Let me tell you I was very pleasantly surprised.
The shaft of the umbrella appears to be fiberglass (it has the criss cross pattern of the fibers if you look at it closely) and is quite firm.

The fabric overhead is no thiner then another umbrella I have seen, and the plastic handle is not the thin hollow plastic you would expect from a child's Halloween ninja sword but it seems to have a lot of substance and weight to it (even if that substance is plastic).

There are only a few negative things I would have to say about this umbrella.
first if you look at the folding mechanism you can notice that they too are plastic rather then metal loops and ribs so they may be prone to breaking and secondly there is a lack of a latch to hold the umbrella open.
The umbrella opens at the push of a button and assisted by a fairly beefy looking spring, but once in its fully open state there is no latch to keep it open only the pressure of the spring. For most situations this will be more than enough, I don't see normal rain or wind forcing it to close on you but in high winds or a real downpour this may become an issue (the lack of a latch keeping it open may however help to prevent damage happening to the plastic mechanism, so it is a bit of a mixed blessing).

Over all I am very happy with this umbrella and can't wait for it to rain so I can truly geek it up in the rain.

Samurai Sword Handle Umbrella from ThinkGeek