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All beach umbrella anchors have their issues, but I must say that this one seems to work well in winds up to 25 to 30 MPH. It's fairly easy to use in an all-sand beach (with which I am blessed), but if live where it's rocky or full of shells, I recommend carrying a rubber hammer (along with everything else) to get it into the ground. I watched plenty of others really struggle to install the "screw-in" variety into the same soil. They spent a long time, and were not very successful. I was able to push this device in relatively easy until the end, which required a foot stomp or two. Get one and enjoy your beach.

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.

I have had several umbrella anchors. The plastic ones are prone to breaking after a few uses so I bought this one to see if the metal would be more durable. It is indeed very durable, however I found it hard to get it very deep in the sand at the beach we were at for our recent vacation. The sand was packed down very firmly and this was hard to get in. The foot bracket is pretty small for my large feet and I didn't find it that useful. It seemed to hold the umbrella securely and is very durable. If you are going to use this in a back yard or beach with packed sand plan on having a hammer to pound it in.

This thing held its own at the beach on some super windy days. The cheap beach umbrella it was holding in the ground didn’t fare as well. With such a sturdy anchor, some key metal parts on the umbrella bent in the heavy winds.Love it, but minus 1 star for the awkward way the bag requires the screw (to tighten against the umbrella pole) gets stored in the storage bag - seems like it could be easy to lose.

After purchasing many anchors to use on the beach I finally found one that works. It has a long angle iron that stays in the sand even in windy conditions. The portion that goes in the sand has a 90 degree angle for the entire length preventing it from turning in the sand (always a problem on windy days). You will need a small block of wood and hammer to insert into the sand but that is a small price to pay for for a quality anchor. I would recommend this item.

I'm going to buy a second one. It's just that good. Here's why.For years, we've carried a heavy duty mallet to secure our umbrella. That wasn't reliable. I looked at the corkscrew type anchors, but this really appealed to me. Even though it's not cheap - this works brilliantly. You wouldn't believe it, but it sinks deep into the sand with just a push of your foot. Drop your umbrella into the base You're done Everyone else might worry about their umbrella blowing away. You won't have a thing to worry about. Why? It's solid construction. It's build like a tank and solid metal - no cheap plastic. This doesn't rely on upper body strength. Just push it into the sand, then step into the square bracket.We keep this anchor in our beach chairs, and it's very easy to clean when it's time to leave. One quick wipe, and it's ready to pack and leave. Nothing could be easier or more reliable.

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.