Patio umbrella vents help keep an umbrella stable and upright, even in windy situations. Most patio and market umbrellas have a single wind vent: a flap of fabric at the top of the umbrella that is designed to allow wind to travel through the umbrella and to prevent lofting of the umbrella. Some umbrella designs feature double wind vents, which allow a significantly greater amount of air to flow through the canopy. A Double vented patio umbrella is generally more expensive than a single vent patio umbrella, and are often built with higher quality components and materials than single vent patio umbrellas are.
In this article, we will look at three different double vented patio umbrella lines at various price and quality points, and compare and contrast them.
Umbrella Vents
Most patio umbrellas come with a single wind vent. Even high-end cantilever umbrellas and high-end patio umbrellas often come with single wind vents, so the lack of a double vent is not always an indicator of poor quality in an umbrella. However, a double vented system will allow significantly more airflow through an umbrella canopy and can result in a more wind-resistant umbrella that is less likely to loft or topple in a breeze.
For a complete explanation of umbrella venting, please see our article on umbrella vents here.
Double Vented Patio Umbrella Reviews
In this section, we will look at three patio umbrella lines featuring double vent systems, each at a different price point.
1. California Umbrella 9′ Double Wind Vent Aluminum Patio Umbrella
California Umbrella is one of our favorite umbrella manufacturers, and they consistently make outstanding patio umbrellas with a great feature set.
These umbrellas are not cheap, but they are extremely well built: they include fiberglass ribs, an elegant tilt function, and a double-vented Sunbrella canvas selection that has some outstanding fabric options!
Basic Features
- Sunbrella fabric canvas
- Double-vented design
- 8 Fiberglass ribs
- Aluminum pole
- Collar tilt function
Dimensions
- Width: 108″
- Height: 101″
- Brim Height: 80.5″
- Weight: 19lbs
The Details
This California Umbrella line is certainly not cheap, but virtually all of the details have been carefully considered, and thoughtfully designed.
Umbrella Base
No umbrella base is included with this umbrella. If you need a base, take a look at our guide to weighing down a patio umbrella for information on base size and circumstances.
Canvas
These outstanding umbrellas are available in a wide variety of Sunbrella acrylic fabrics. Sunbrella is probably the best outdoor fabric manufacturer, with outstanding quality and beautiful design choices. For more information on umbrella fabrics, please see our guide here. The color choices available for this line of patio umbrellas is really great, with lots of interesting patterns and colors to choose from.
Frame and Ribs
The frame on this umbrella is made of aluminum, which is an excellent umbrella frame material. Aluminum does not rust and is quite strong and lightweight.
The ribs are made of fiberglass, which is the best material choice for umbrella ribs. Fiberglass is relatively expensive, but it offers the greatest strength and flexibility of any umbrella rib material. With 8 ribs on this 9′ umbrella, this is a resilient piece!
Wind Vents
This umbrella features dual wind vents, one at the top and another in the middle of the canvas. With two wind vents, air gusts have plenty of places to go, and the umbrella will resist toppling and lofting more so than other single vent umbrellas will.
Tilt Collar
The California Umbrella tilt system is very clever! There is a collar that sits at the top of the crank mechanism, which can be rotated by hand. By rotating the collar, the patio umbrella tilts. There is no need to reach up to the top of the umbrella to tilt it, and the rotation is quite easy to do. Just be sure that the umbrella is completely straight before you close the canopy.
Attempting to close the canopy while the umbrella is open can damage the internal mechanisms.
The Bottom Line
The California Umbrella 9′ double vented patio umbrella line is an excellent choice for those who want a high-end umbrella with a great deal of wind resistance at a premium price. The Sunbrella fabric selection is great, and the build quality is quite nice on this umbrella line.
- FABRIC: Sunbrella Performance Fabrics has been engineered to withstand...
- OPERATION: Crank to Open, Twist to Tilt. We invented the Collar Tilt...
- CONSTRUCTION: Entire frame is made from rust-free all aluminum with...
- WEATHER PROTECTION: Fiberglass ribs offer superior flexibility in...
- Optional base is not included and must be purchased separately
Last update on 2024-10-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
2. EasyGo Products 10′ Double Vent Patio Umbrella
EasyGo Products’ 10′ Double Vent Patio Umbrella is a nice patio umbrella with some decent features at a pretty aggressive price point. While it does not feature the same quality of components that the California Umbrella offers, it is large and has the double vent system for extra stability.
Unfortunately, it’s only available in one color option, the tan shown here.
Basic Features
- Solution-dyed polyester canopy
- Double-vented design
- 8 Steel ribs
- Aluminum pole
- Tilt function
Dimensions
- Canopy Width: 120″
- Pole Diameter: 1.5″
- Weight: 11lbs
The Details
The EasyGo Products 10′ double vented market umbrella is a good choice for those who want a sturdy, resilient, large umbrella that doesn’t cost a fortune. The EasyGo doesn’t offer top of the line features, but it is well built and hits a nice price point.
Base Weight
Be sure to properly weight this patio umbrella, as it is large. With a 10′ span, you’ll want a pretty large base. See our patio umbrella base weight guide for more information.
Canvas
The canvas on the EasyGo Products umbrella is made of Solution-dyed polyester at 180G thickness. This is not a bad fabric, though it is certainly not as good as Sunbrella solution-dyed acrylic. 180G thickness is decent, and solution dyed polyester tends to be pretty color fast and fade resistant. See our umbrella fabric guide for more info.
We would be much happier if this umbrella was available in a few more color choices!
Frame and Ribs
The frame of this patio umbrella is made of aluminum and is 1.5″ thick. The aluminum material choice is a good one, though at only 1.5″ of thickness for a 10′ wide umbrella, could be a weak point over time.
The 8 supporting ribs are made of steel, which is unsurprising given the price of this umbrella. Fiberglass or aluminum would certainly be better material choices, but steel is appropriate and is reasonably strong and flexible.
Wind Vents
The EasyGo Market Umbrella features dual wind vents to help keep the umbrella stable. The fact that there are two wind vents to channel air will certainly go a long way to balance out the steel ribs and slightly narrow pole choices.
Tilt Functionality
The tilt functionality works pretty well on this umbrella, though it is certainly a step down from the California Umbrella method. To tilt the umbrella, you simply push on the button at the joint on the shaft, and the umbrella will tilt down at an angle. There is only the one tilt angle choice, and the umbrella does not rotate.
The Bottom Line
While there are several aspects of this umbrella that are noticeably worse than the California Umbrella lines, it really is a nice umbrella for its price point. The lack of color options is a significant negative, but if you’re looking for a tilting 10′ patio umbrella, it’s hard to beat this price, and the double vent design is a bonus!
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3. California Umbrella 11′ Double Wind Vent Patio Umbrella
The 11′ California Umbrella Patio Umbrella line shares many features to the 9′ umbrella line shown above, with a few notable differences. These umbrellas are quite large and offer some excellent features and a lot of variety.
The color selection available is quite nice, though the fabric is Pacifica, not Sunbrella, and is a slight step down in quality. To keep these umbrellas looking as good as possible, be sure to pick up a patio umbrella cover.
Basic Features
- Pacifica solution-dyed polyester fabric
- Double Wind vent technology
- 8 Aluminum ribs
- Aluminum umbrella shaft
- Collar tilt function
Dimensions
- Width: 108″
- Height: 101″
- Brim Height: 80.5″
- Weight: 19lbs
The Details
The 11′ California Umbrella patio umbrella collection is a great collection of huge 11′ patio umbrellas. These units are big, and can shade a large area! The double vent design and aluminum ribs should keep the umbrella pretty stable, even in a windy environment
Canvas
These umbrellas feature California Umbrella’s own solution-dyed polyester fabric called Pacifica. While solution dyed acrylic (like Sunbrella) is a step up, this fabric is very high quality and is covered under a 4 year warranty. You can see here for more information on Pacifica fabric.
The color selection is good, and while there are more solid colors and few patterns than in the Sunbrella fabric, there are several great options to choose from.
Frame and Ribs
The frame and ribs of this patio umbrella are made of aluminum. Aluminum is a great choice for a pole, as it won’t rust, and is quite sturdy. For ribs, aluminum is perhaps the second best choice after fiberglass. Aluminum isn’t quite as flexible and strong as fiberglass, but is still better than steel, and does not rust like steel can.
These umbrellas are available in four different pole colors and finishes, which allows for a ton of variety in choosing fabric and pole colors. All of the colors are powder coats to prevent rust.
Wind Vents
The wind vent system on these umbrellas is similar to the 9′ double wind vent umbrellas above. The canvas is split into three tiers, with wind vents between each tier. These openings do not let water in, but allow wind to flow through the opening as needed, and helps keep the umbrellas pointing in the right direction!
Tilt Function
California Umbrella’s tilt function is very slick and is one of the best tilt systems on the market. One does not need to reach up to the top of the umbrella shaft to tilt, and you can tilt as much as you please. Simply turn the dial at the top of the umbrella crank, and the umbrella will tilt as much as you wish.
You can even tilt these umbrellas while sitting down.
The one thing to be cautious about is to be sure the umbrella is straight before you close it. If you close the umbrella in a tilted position, you can damage the internal mechanisms.
The Bottom Line
Large 11′ patio umbrellas constructed with good materials, and with high-quality specs are hard to find! California Umbrellas has created an outstanding line of 11′ patio umbrellas here, and while we can see that they have downgraded a few aspects of the 11′ umbrella compared to the 9′ (the ribs and the canopy material), the 11′ size is enormous, and will really look great covering large patio tables!
- FABRIC: Made from our proprietary fabric line Pacifica fabrics are...
- OPERATION: Crank to Open, Twist to Tilt. We invented the Collar Tilt...
- CONSTRUCTION: Entire frame is made from rust-free all aluminum with...
- WEATHER PROTECTION: Strong aluminum frame and ribs along with a...
- Optional umbrella base is not included and must be purchased...
Last update on 2024-10-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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