Ace Evert Market Umbrella 8011S, 9 ft, Polyester, Khaki

I love love this umbrella. I have a small backyard with wall to wall concrete so you can imagine how hot it can get in the desert. We even reach temps as high as 105 degrees and as low as 40s. Ive only had it for a short while so don't know about long term but for now it makes my blah backyard fill with color. Sitting under the umbrella is so much cooler and makes me go outside for my afternoon coffee. I bought two of these umbrellas at $41 each it's a bargain. I checked around local stores thinking the end of the summer will have hot sales... Nope, amazon had the best price.Now, I needed the pole diameter and nobody included that dimensions. To help you guys out it is 1 3/8 inch, not quite 1 1/2 inch in diameter. I couldn't order the patio set I wanted because I had to make sure it would fit. It's a good thing I waited to measure the pole since my patio set I wanted had a 1 inch diameter umbrella hole. Lots of people had problems with this umbrella blowing over.... Well, I'll say that's obvious because it is so huge. You need a LARGE base to counter balance the air factor. It gets quite windy out here too but with the base I bought it did not budge one bit. I also bought the base on amazon. It is the rolling shade mobile with table accessory in bronze. It is awesome. When you fill the base with 5in red bricks and sand the total weight is over 125lbs so this umbrella was not going nowhere. My second umbrella will go in my patio set with a 25lbs base. I wanted a heavier base for my free standing umbrella and figured the weight of my cast aluminum patio table with the 25lbs base would be sufficient for the second umbrella. Two umbrellas one on wheels to chase the sun makes my backyard so beautiful!

This is the fifth inexpensive umbrella I have purchased on Amazon since 2007 so that's about one per year. Usually the wind takes them out though the last one was just terrible - the canopy itself was attached poorly to the frame and the cord that lifted the umbrella broke after about 30 days (that item is no longer sold on Amazon).This one out of the box and in the table is great so far but I COMMIT to coming back to add to this review in a few months to comment on the durability. It seems like anyone can put together a seemingly decent umbrella but how they perform longer-term is what I'm interested in when I purchase one.Here the pro's and con's so far:Pro's:- Nice crank, works with a satisfying "click" and is easy to turn- Good canopy, blocks the light, stitching is well-sewn, only one loose thread (cosmetic)- Center pole is standard sized... my last umbrella required a larger than normal hole (2.5")Con's:- The supports for the umbrella are aluminum. Some higher-end umbrellas (which admittedly at this price this is not!) use PVC/plastic which gives more in the wind. I suspect these "arms" will be the weak link of this umbrellaOverall this is a screaming deal at $42 even if the thing only lasts one summer. So far, so good, highly recommended!Update 7/8: This umbrella survived 4th of July picnics and some pretty gusty winds... operation is still excellent and it's holding up well so far!UPDATE June 2014: This umbrella is still going strong, works and looks GREAT! I am very pleased with this umbrella.

This umbrella is nice. I hesitated to order it because the price was so low, I thought it might be a cheap piece of junk. It's actually pretty nice, but doesn't feel like it will last more that a couple years. I think the pole could be a little more sturdy, it does feel thin. But the canopy of the umbrella is nice. I bought khaki because our house is a muted olive color, and the color of this umbrella is more on the brown side of khaki than the olive side. It's a really pretty color, still coordinates nicely with the house color, but it is more brown than green, just FYI. The lifting mechanism is smooth and not too noisy, but I think the string part of the pulley might not endure the test of time.As with all my reviews, I'll post updates if things change after a period of use.Update: 2 months later I like this umbrella even more than ever! We get some strong breezes where I live, and it has held up. If it gets really windy, I'll bring it down, of course. It looks great with my outdoor furniture set from Ikea. I found an umbrella base at Kohl's - I think it was called Sonoma - and the color of the base matches the color of this umbrella shaft perfectly, kind of a bronze color. Nice!

I posted a bunch of pictures up there. Hope they give you a better idea about this product.I ordered a couple of these. One of them had a problem with the anti-reverse mechanism in the crank. It's supposed to "click" on the way down to make it harder for the umbrella to close by itself. Instead, I think the gear was installed in reverse, and the "clicks" happen on the way up. And the umbrella does not stay widely open by itself.Thanks to Amazon's great return service, the exchange was quick and painless.Overall, I am relatively happy with the two umbrellas, especially considering the low price. The metal pole, metal crank, etc. feels pretty thin, somewhat hollow and lightweight. The plastic parts look very plasticky. The fabric is not as thick as my older umbrella, which uses the popular "Sunbrella" fabric. But overall, the system works well enough, and does the job in terms of providing shades from the California sun. I am not sure if they will last for 10 years, but I think with careful use, they'll probably at least last a few seasons.I am also a bit disillusioned about spending good money on patio umbrellas. I paid a lot of money for a supposingly good quality one last time, and it broke within a year. So, I don't believe in spending too much on this anymore.