Sport-Brella XL - Portable Sun and Weather Shelter

Sport-Brella X-Large UmbrellaThis umbrella is a piece of junk. Looks real nice when you set it up and provides plenty of shade. The problem is it cannot withstand any wind. We had it set up for 1/2 hr. when a slight breeze came along and turned the umbrella inside out. The umbrella was totally wrecked beyond repair.

I have owned the Sport-Brella XL for roughly a year and have used it a handful of times. When it works, it is great: a large beach shade, quite impressive. However, it is a little... flimsy.Don't get me wrong. There are a few parts of it that are excellent. The spars are all metal. The fabric is durable and thick with a semi-reflective layer underneath. However, the pole, upper hub and rider (google umbrella terms to see what I am talking about) are a little cheap.The pole is very thin. I've had smaller umbrellas with thicker poles, and believe me, a girthier pole makes a big difference. It is metallic, which compensates and makes it more durable, but it is still a bit bendy.The upper hub is where most of the problems lie. This is the piece where all the arms attach at the top of the umbrella. This piece and the rider are both made out of plastic, and this piece is a real point of weakness (see some of the one-star reviews). On my third outing with the umbrella, there was a bit of a breeze, but nothing major. A slight gust during setup brlew the umbrella inside-out, and this piece snapped right at the top.Upon examining this piece, it appears that it composed of two sections: a hollow cylindrical one which enters the top of the metal pole and the area where all the spars attach to the top. The two sections do not have the same inner diameter, and it appears that the junction between the two is quite thin. Given the way the umbrella broke, this part should either be made out of metal, or at least thicker plastic.The other part that broke is the rider, the sliding bit that lets you open the umbrella. The wire that held the arm support bars to this piece snapped and the rider was a little bent. It is serviceable, but again, metal or harder plastic would be good. I have a feeling that the components for the regular and XL models are the same in these two cases, which is a big oversight. The XL is 9' in diameter while the regular one is 7'. This difference accounts for a 65% increase in surface area, which is great for shade, but needs to bolstered with durability.I contacted customer service. Sport-Brella's web site sells parts, unfortunately, none of those parts are the ones I needed. They say to contact them for replacements of other parts. I sent an email on June 17, received a reply from customer service rep Ninfa Morales on the 19th asking for photos. I sent those a few hours later and have not heard since. I sent a follow-up email on July 2, and still have not heard back. This is kind of crap.Why am I not giving it one star? Perhaps I should. However, I am still impressed by the canopy and the umbrella arms. This weekend I was able to fix the umbrella with some epoxy, pipe, two nuts and bolts and 16-guage wire. I found that 1/2" polyethylene pipe is the perfect replacement for the lower part of the upper hub that fits inside the pole. I cut a 3" segment that I glued into the broken top. Also put in a few nails to secure things a little better. Drilling a hole for where the rivet used to go. I was able to insert it back into the pipe and I secured everything with nuts and bolts. For the rider, I used 16 gauge wire to reattach the arm support bars. Tightening it up with a pair of pliers, it looked almost good as new.The umbrella works again. I'll be using it at the beach. I figure next time it breaks, I'll try to replace the pole with some thicker steel conduit and make my own upper hub and rider. The best parts of this umbrella is really the canopy. It's too bad the other components let it down.

--------- (Update 8/25) ---------I've read elsewhere it's an 8mm screw (m8) NOT 5/16" - be careful or you'll strip your threads - sklz.com sells replacement screws for $4 or so..Anyway got a replacement sport-brella XL and was much more careful this time. Everything was fine. Some of the "ribs" became detached from the umbrella but it still worked. May be able to repair this by simply sewing them back in place. Not a big deal.My over all conclusion is this is a great concept but with poor design choices for this larger size - faulty screw knob, weak ribbing/ ribbing connections and attachments, weak extender pole (mine started to bend after a couple of uses), not enough sand stakes included.Have to say not sure I recommend this product in it's current form. It's close though so ymmv depending on how careful you are and how much you are willing to futz with it..E.--------- (Update 8/13) ---------I contacted the company via email re:my wind "issue" (again MY fault - see below) and they were very responsive. That may be something to try if you are not satisfied or have a problem with the product.As far as the broken screw head - I replaced it with a 5/16" x 3-1/4" eye bolt from Home Depot (cost like 72 cents or something). Fits great and has the advantage of being able to hang stuff as well.I really do like the concept. It's very versatile. As others have said the XL model is very long probably not suitable for sedans. I lashed ours to the roof rack on our wagon and was fine (along with a soft roof carrier).Another thought is maybe the XL while providing decent coverage may tend to be a bit weaker thanks to the stress of the larger surface area at least in the upright position.I did have the umbrella in it's side position during a fairly windy day and it was fine. Could have used more stakes though.--------- Original Review ---------Bought this for a recent trip to OBX. Worked really well for the first few days in both the "leaning" position and the traditional straight up way. Loved the large area of coverage - very good sun protection etc etc. On the fourth day a small rainstorm hit, stupidly decided to tie down the umbrella in the upright position instead of lowering it. A small gust of wind blew over the umbrella and the metal "ring" (a loop of wire) holding in all the spines together broke as well as the plastic "holder" ring that kept the spines aligned. One of the spines bent and one of the support spines broke off (the metal rod holding it together). To add insult to injury the screw head of the tightening screw fell off (a common complaint in these comments it seems) so it was difficult to retract the lower pole.The spines themselves are metal which is nice (bending not breaking) but the design of the plastic holder ring and the metal loop wire seems to be a weakness - the spines can easily shear off from the top which is what happened in my case (again my fault for the most part).This CAN be a worthwhile purchase as long as you are very careful on windy days - only use the umbrella in the leaning position and be sure to close it at the first sign of trouble. The screw head situation is really annoying - It's a shame the company has yet to address this. Last thought is they have not included enough metal stakes for the tie down rings on the umbrella - have to supplement with some others which you can get at target etc.I agree with other comments - I love the concept but the design could use some refinement.

The Good: easy to use, works as advertised, nice and large, kept the rain and sun off of us.The Bad: On the first use, a decent gust of wind blew it inside-out and right out of the ground. I actually thought it had broken all the internal ribbing but after carefully working it back into position, all was fine. The plastic top piece and the rod threads aren't perfect though - they won't be the same, lol. It did leak in a couple of spots but for this price point I wasn't expecting Gore-tex and welded seams.Overall impression: I like it just fine. I knew going in that windy days could be an issue and it kept the sun off me during the events I bought it for. Be aware that every review that states it sucked in moderate- to heavy winds is right on the money - you will either wreck it or you'll be chasing it.