Yeah man. This one is pretty, pretty, pretty good.
I want sun at the beach but not THAT much sun. Regular metal-framed canopies are great at certain places but the beach is not one of them. They weigh too much and are cumbersome. This one weighs very little and packs down tight. I absolutely love this thing. Having two tie outs on each corner is the key to keeping the wind from knocking the whole thing down. Don’t get me wrong. The wind can still knock this one down, but way after the other canopies around you are on the ground. Of a full week in Florida, three days had rip tide warnings from super high winds so you likely won’t see much worse that we did.

Setup is very straight forward. Pull it out of the bag and lay it out. One or two scoops of sand in each pocket should be enough to keep the arms from blowing around. This set comes with 2 little scooper shovels. We snapped the handle off one the last day, though it was due to operator error. Poles are loaded with elastic cord, pointy end goes in the sand, soft round end against the fabric. Put more sand in the pockets than you think you need. Dig a little hole in the sand where you want the pocket to live. This makes it super sturdy so the wind gusts won’t pull it over. It comes with elastic bands that hold the fabric tight around the padded end of the pole. We didn’t need these the first couple days when the wind was reasonable, but they became a requirement when the wind was whipping. Even when wet, this fabric did not hold on to much sand at all, and then dried super quick. Like everything else in life, they make nicer and more expensive stuff. If you want that, go look for that. For the price I am beyond happy with the quality of this purchase, especially since we only get to the beach once or twice a year.

Pro tip. Pick your spot super early in the morning. Fill up the pockets with sand and stretch it all the way out without putting up the poles. This way you are marking your spot but without the chance of your canopy flip flap flopping away without you being there to fix it. When we left for lunch, we would just pull down the poles and leave our stuff under the canopy fabric. Keeps the sun, sand, and eyes off your stuff.