Cell Phonea8

LOVE THIS!!! We have a home in NV, where the sun can be relentless, so have umbrellas in the front and back! We also have WIND that will knock over a normal umbrella stand. I wanted an umbrella in the area that my husband sets up his smoker, but the stands i have kept blowing over. This stand, pounded into our hard desert soil, and right next to the patio, has stood up SO WELL! I have moved it once, just over 1 foot or so and although our soil is really tough, i was able to jiggle it enough to get out of the ground and pound into a better location. (I am a 57 year old gal, so if i can do that, anyone can) I admit $40 felt pricey, but it was definitely money well spent.

The umbrella stand works great for a seating area under a tree. The ground is clay and after the rains, I was able to put it in place. It appears to be well made ...all steel. The length of the stake is ideal too so I feel like it will provide more stability as it is all one construction--one piece.

1st off, I'm totally happy with this stand. The reason for my review is that before I bought I wasn't sure because too many things were not covered in the description. Now that I have it, here's what it is...All steel. The shaft piece is 1"X 1' X1/8" thick angle iron 24" long. ( The top end cut off square, the bottom end beveled to aid in driving into the soil) The umbrella holding tube is 1 5/8" inside diameter with 1/8" wall diameter. It is 6" long & is welded to the shaft with 4- 2" beads. The tube is drilled & tapped for 1/4X 20 threads (USS) in two places, about 1-1/2" from each end of the tube. The tube is positioned down 1" from the top of the shaft so beating it into the ground won't harm the tube. It comes with one clamping screw that has a plastic handle for hand tightening. If you feel a need for a second clamp screw, I've seen these at Lowes & Home Depot or just about any hardware store. Replacement would be super easy if it got lost because it's not metric. The screw is long enough that you could actually clamp down on a 3/8" rod if you had to. The positioning of the tube on the shaft lets you drive it into the ground 17". This ought to do unless the sand is still soft deep down. The handle shown in the picture is 1/4" round steel rod welded on. It's great for wiggling to loosen & pulling up, but pounding directly on the shaft is best for driving it in. Someone else wasn't happy with the paint quality. It's just some ordinary paint they sprayed on after it was welded up. But it is so much better that anything else I found, I figure, when the paint is gone I'll just repaint it. As a test, I drove it down into my back yard sod. Then slipped in my 1-1/2" dia. 8 foot patio awning (it's a heavy one about 13 yrs. old). Cranked up the umbrella & admired. Then, I pushed back & forth on the umbrella to simulate heavy wind. It moved a lot & I thought "What the hey?" I thought the shaft was bending but, when I extracted the thing it was straight as an arrow. No problem with the stand. I didn't realize my soil was so mushy below the grass. Well, I do live in the Mojave desert. I guess lawn watering keeps the sand underneath soft. I do believe this is an excellent stand & I'm pretty sure it's American made because nothing measures in millimeters. Sept. 2014 update: I still think this is the best but, I've tried pounding into some pretty hard stuff a few times & it's getting pretty deformed at the top from the big hammer I'm using. I dressed it up with the grinder & modified the pointed end to hopefully drive through hard stuff easier. When the top end gets worse, I'll take a small piece of heavier angle & weld it on as a doubler.

Items seem to be heavy duty and up to task, but the paint work is poor. The items are not individually wrapped except for a little bubble wrap on the end that goes in the ground. They were loose in the box with some packing paper. Some dings and paint scratches probably occurred during shipping, but some areas are totally missing paint. Where there are scratches you can scratch off more with your fingernail. I'm guessing some of the marring occurred prior to shipping. The paint overall doesn't appear to be adequate for an item whose purpose is to be used in the ground and at the beach in saltwater.

I carry my patriotism and Marine Corps pride wherever I go, so when I'm camping I want my flags flying for all to see. But how do you anchor the poles so they don't fall over with the flags flapping in a heavy wind? I knew this was the stake design I needed but couldn't see paying $40 each. After not finding any other options, I ordered one to see it was worth it. It is! This is a heavy 18" angle iron stake with a 1 1/4" ID pipe welded at the top. The handle is big enough to grab easily, the stake is long enough to drive into the ground solidly, and the wing screw held my flag poles tight without any problem. I bought a 2nd stake immediately and have flown my 2' x 3' flags on 6' poles with winds blowing off the rivers through my campsite and no movement to the poles. After seeing how well these stakes held my poles, my only concern is whether the flag poles will handle a 3'x5' flag, because I know these stakes will.

I bought this to hold a large umbrella at the beach on Lake Michigan. The first time it was fine. The second time was a very windy day. We chased the umbrella down the beach 3 times before we gave up. On a non-windy day my umbrella was fine without a stand. I don't think it was a wise choice.

It might work in very soft sand but you'd need a sledge hammer to use in dirt or grass. Then after you pound it in the ground, good luck removing it.

This is the strongest most permanent Umbrella, Pole stand holder you can buy. It is made with angle iron, solid iron pipe ( 1 5/8"ID, 1 7/8"OD, x 6" ), and a solid core iron bent foot piece. All welding is smooth and well done. Sanded and painted, easy to handle. You really can drive it in the ground without worry of damaging the construction. It's built to last. Packaging is wrapped in bubble wrap and well protected.