Patio Living Concepts00237-PLC, Durable Rust Free Molded Resin, Contemporary Style Patio Base with Locking Screw-on Cap, 50 pounds Holding Force, Bronze Umbrella Stand, 6-1/2" Tall X 16" diam

The purpose of this umbrella base is simple, keep the umbrella pole from moving around when used with a table that accommodates an umbrella and to keep the umbrella upright in a moderate wind. If that is what you want, this is a great unpretentious umbrella base. I was able to use it as a stand to just prop up the umbrella over my grill in a light rain with no wind but it is not really a stand, however, on a calm day with a slight breeze it does the trick.The base is utilitarian but not ugly and the color matches my patio set. And it will not rust like traditional metal stands, and more importantly, won't leave rust stains. The compact size means it is not in the way of our feet when we're sitting around the table and it does it's job without being the focal point of the patio.I bought a bag of damp washed play sand and also had trouble (at first) using a traditional funnel. My work around was to cut the base off a 20 oz soda bottle to use as a funnel, the mouth of the bottle fits right inside the filler hole. I held the bottle and base while my daughter used a garden trowel to fill the bottle, then I inserted a metal kabob skewer through sand and "stirred" the sand and it flowed quickly into the base.Caveat 1: read the box and the plastic bag it comes in and don't put the cap on the filler hole until it is filled. It is not the end of the world if you do, I was able to unscrew it by hand but if I wasn't too lazy to get a set of channel locks they would have worked also. The locking nubs were somewhat stripped afterwards but that's fine.Caveat 2: if you fill it with water it will weigh in the area of 15 pounds. Adequate to keep the umbrella pole from moving during normal use, but I'm not sure I'd trust it in even a moderate wind, especially if the pole is being used in a glass top table. It may also leak as it is not designed for water.Pros:Not bad lookingWhen filled with sand can weigh a substantial 50 lbsConvenient handle for carryingWon't rust or leave rust stainsLow profileCons:I'm not sure I'd use it as a free standing umbrella stand, but I didn't buy it for that either, so it's not really a con.

Great but needs to be a bit heavier but filling with sand instead of water would probably solve that.

As described, no doubt about it.Please: DON'T even think of "cheating" and filling this with water. It's *NOT* designed to hold water inside. Duh. It's designed for sand.Home Depot has a 50-pound bag of washed, screened play box sand for a paltry $2.50 in this part of the world. Not a bad deal.My spouse and I **eventually** got most of the sand (probably about 40-45 pounds) inside the base.Once filled, the base holds our 9-foot fabric umbrella (purchased at Amazon.com, of course) quite nicely. I'm a bit leery about that single bolt putting enough pressure on the umbrella pole, but, so far, so good. I might eventually remove the pole from the stand and drill an oversized hole in the metal pole -- that way, the bolt from the stand could pass **into** the umbrella pole, and that ought to be even sturdier and more stable.The stand is attractive and comfortable enough to place bare feet upon it while sitting at the table.The only reason it didn't earn 5 stars? The insertion point for the sand could be MUCH larger. That would have been really helpful. Our sand was damp and clumpy, and it took a LONG time to get it inside the relatively-small filler hole in the base. A larger hole would have expedited the process tremendously.The cap for the filler is clearly not water-tight, but appears to be sand-tight under current conditions. It appears that the manufacturer intends that once you screw it in place, you shouldn't ever try to UN-screw it and remove it.Recommended, but with the caveat that if your sand is in the least bit damp, it's gonna take you a long, long time to get it inside the base! :)

This is pretty good, I filled mine with gravel instead of sand and it was a big pain in the@$$. Don’t do that! Lol it was hard to fill, I needed another person the hold and pour the bag while I used a cut off gallon jug top as a funnel and then shook it often to get the gravel to go down and then pause and turn it sideways to make more room... Just use sand lol! u can’t empty it to move it. Otherwise it is good for the price.

I have a 9' diameter umbrella which was trying for lift-off from our 3rd floor balcony with the metal bistro table I had it attached to. This and a $5 bag of sand from Home Depot has solved it. I have the brown/bronze color and it is fine. Doesn't look "bronze" metallic, but is a decent thing. Like other reviewers have said, plan on an hour or more to fill this with sand unless your sand is bone dry. It's the holy trinity, you know. Cheap, good, fast, pick two, forget the third. This was good, it was cheap, (and shipping was crazy fast) but the set-up is not fast because of the sand situation. Still, I like it. The cap seems like it is NOT meant to come off without some serious force, and then you might have trouble attaching it again later, so this goes on the list of "reasons to hire movers next time we move." Who wants to carry a 50' thing down the steps? Not me.

As per the INSTRUCTIONS, the cap does not come off once tightened down. DO NOT expect that you can empty and refill it EVER. It is specifically designed this way. Obviously some people didn't read anything about this product before purchasing or assembling. *Ahem* Read the instructions, people.Works as expected, mostly. All parts included. I used sand and water to fill, but the water leaked out the screw hole. Not too happy about that but oh well. Also, the screw doesn't actually hold the pole IN, just tightens the hole a bit...fine I guess, but because the "base" of the pole is lifted off the ground 2-3in because of the middle, my umbrella was lifted out easily when a strong storm blew through. Yes I should've closed it, but it was like a flash hurricane and was gone in 15 minutes, before I could even get outside.Anyway, all in all, it works fine, and isn't too expensive.