To be very clear - the product cannot be used without the base or at least securing it to a foundation with hardware that you will need to purchase (and I'm not convinced this is a lasting solution, although there are plenty of buyers on here that can tell you how to do it). The pictures insinuate that it can work without a base, but that is absolutely incorrect. Once you buy the base and fill with water (filling with sand would take an entire day - the outlets are half-dollar size), it is fine for my needs. My yard is somewhat protected from wind, and as long as the umbrella is in it's closed position, there is not a lot of pressure on the base. I could see a real problem with just a slight breeze if the umbrella is expanded. One caveat that I have not seen mentioned by anyone - it is very easy to remove the umbrella portion from the base and lay it on the ground or store away during a storm or even a season. This is the saving grace for me. Overall, it will now do what I need it to, but it is twice the listed price due to the addition of the base.

This is my first offset umbrella. It's something that I wanted to get for a long time because my center pole umbrella only shaded half of the table. But now I'm not so sure it was a good idea. A center tube umbrella will tolerate a little bit of crosswind before things get dangerous. Not so with an offset umbrella. The large umbrella is very susceptible to the wind and if the wind is not directly coming from the tube side then the umbrella will twist the frame to try to follow the wind. It quickly turns up sideways like a big sail. This is a little scary because the plastic connectors that hold the frame to the tube seem like they could bend or break easily. The umbrella seems very heavy for the tubing frame. I didn't trust the base alone to do the job so I added a support bracket to my deck rail to keep it from falling over. Hopefully that helps some. It's easy enough to crank the umbrella open if you want it on an angle but if you want to hang it directly over the table you have to slide the side bracket up the tube. This is a bit of a challenge because of the weight of the umbrella and it tends to jam up. All of these umbrellas appear to be made the same so I don't want to fault this one over the others. It looks great and it was good price compared to others I looked at. I'm just not sure how well an offset umbrella is going to work out for me as I live in a windy area. Time will tell I guess. Update: I am not happy at all with this offset umbrella. If there is a gust of wind it will flip sideways to follow the breeze, swinging wildly and almost hitting people at the table. I have it bolted to the deck and the upper part is strapped to the deck rail but that still won't stop it from swinging. We have only been able to use it twice all summer because it is too dangerous. I noticed that one of my neighbors has taken theirs down and another house down the street put one out to the curb for scrap pickup. That's probably what I'll be doing as well. What a waste. Next year the old fashioned center pole umbrella will be back in play. Glad I saved it.

06/18/2022: I was pleasantly surprised at how large and sturdy the umbrella is, well worth the money. The base is heavy metal and the top easily adjust. I could see it moving with a lot of wind, because it is so large. I will be using it in a few days and will add more input later. 06/22/2022: Well, the umbrellas were a bust. The steps in the pool, that I was trying to shade, didn't go over big. I had to angle the umbrella sideways to block the sun, which unfortunately allowed the wind to blow them over. Lowering them helped, but actually, the guest wanted the sun. At the end of the day, at 78, I'm too old to handle these. If you are willing to invest more money for weights, these umbrellas should work fine, and at the current cost, you will still come out ahead. 06/22/22 Well it pains me to do it, but I had to reduce the number of stars down to 3. You are free to return it and you will get a refund. However, it’s cost prohibitive to return it. The USPS, which is the cheapest route to go in my area, cost $227 for each umbrella. So why would I pay $227 to return a item that cost me $70. Shame on you Amazon, for allowing these vendors to take advantage of your customers like that. At least give us a warning up front, that returning this item could be $$$. After hassle of breakdown repackaging, and taking to post office, I’m disappointed.