Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Purchased this umbrella in advance of a NC summer beach vacation with all intentions of using this on the beach, windy at times. I used the umbrella in both upright and leaning over configurations. Here are my comments. 1. Providing shade - umbrella itself was great for sun-blocking and providing shade. Opening the side panels to let some breeze through also was a good feature. Looking for shade on a hot beach - this is your answer. 5 stars for this. 2. Ground insertion - the extension pole by itself was sufficient to hold the umbrella in place even in windy conditions, provided you stick it down deep enough. The pole is slimmer than most beach umbrella poles so it actually went into the sand easier than I expected & held well. IF you decide to use one of those beach anchor screws (giant screw that you screw into the sand & then insert the umbrella pole into) be aware the wind may cause your skinnier pole to slightly bend and you will no longer be able to retract it into it's own center pole for storage. I would just use the umbrella pole by itself. I had no trouble. 4 stars here. 3. Construction - the knob that is attached to the center pole to hold the bottom pole inside and for adjusting the height of the umbrella is the biggest P.O.S. I've ever seen. It stripped out the FIRST TIME I used it. See other reviews for the same problem. I ended up going to Home Depot to get a replacement thumb screw (5/16" x 1 1/4" stainless steel) which worked perfect. 1 star here. 4. Staking the umbrella - the big thick stakes provided with the umbrella worked great in the sand along with the ropes to help hold the umbrella in the windy conditions. If you are using this at the beach, leave the small thin stakes at home...worthless in sand. Buy some bigger extra stakes at Wal-Mart in the camping section to supplement those provided with the umbrella for sand use. That way you can secure the umbrella in all of it's locations. 3 stars here. Overall - very pleased with this purchase with some extra modifications I had to perform (new knob and extra stakes for sand use). Highly recommended, but only if you replace the knob first. Other than that it's ready for use right out of the box.