Beach Umbrella Buyers Guide

Is it fair if I call Basil Bangs the OG Beach Umbrella ?? Probably not, but it’s the first brand I came across that was making beach umbrellas in a way that wasn’t 1980’s Summer-Girl vibes…

The main one in the image above was designed exclusively by Leah Bartholomew for Basil Bangs, and in her words is “a love letter to Australian native flowers inspired by the colours of the coastline, this happy print embodies Aussie summer”

The umbrella runs 50+ UPF weather treated outdoor canvas and is water proof, and is collapsible with a lightweight aluminium pole.

You heard much of Business & Pleasure? You might have, we did something on way back with their beach umbrella collaboration with BANKS. Brains behind it is an ex-Surf Stitch lord and he’s now just stone cold foxing it with these brollies.

This one in particular is great, I dig the black and sand coloured animal print on white background. Stunning, sharp and works well with almost any other colour palate – that is, if you’re into making your beach setup IG friendly.

This brollie has all the features of B&P’s premium style in a light-weight and convenient size that is ideal for a quick beach trip or having in the boot of the car for an unexpected day in the sun!

It’s not like Balter are doing umbrellas, per se, but it’s more they worked with Business & Pleasure to create this one and it’s real nice. Called ‘The Beer Shade’, it’s perfect for drinking beer in the shade.

This sunbrella has a list of luxury features including custom aluminum hardware, polished wood pole & coated canvas with Balter’s ‘Ode to Currumbin’ floral / lorikeet / tinnie print.

This little beauty is UPF 50+ (with up to 98% UV blockout / maximum sun protection rating) and comes equipped in its very own canvas bag with a carry sling… that’s handy

Sunday Supply Co came onto my radar not long after I started sniffing around the umbrella world a couple years ago (Tim and I had something in the pipeline which, of course, fell through). I have a feeling they’re Gold Coast based.

This one is a stunning vintage beach umbrella with modern qualities designed to age gracefully and naturally. Finished with beautiful natural cotton tassels, lightly varnished beechwood and custom-designed, powder-coated hinge and hardwares.

Runs with 50SPF fabric that is fade resistant and a 2m canopy shade which is nice. Comes with it’s own bag, packs down small, etc. Worth a look, we got one here at the house and it’s niccccccce.

Hadn’t heard of Salty Shadows until I started doing light research for this actual article. Out of the Newcastle area, they’ve created the brand and product as they were  overwhelmed with the majority of beach umbrellas consisting of only stripes – fair point, as there is a sh** ton of stripes out there.

What I like, apart from the actual umbrellas, is that Salty Shadows drop 1% of all profits into Sea Shepherd and they also create extra products out of the scrap fabric from the canopy. Overall, a nice alternative to the other brands you find here.

This is just a shout out for all the logo’d up, brand heavy, beach umbrella options you can get out there. Volcom, Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Roxy and more have beach umbrellas in their product assortment and are generally a bunch cheaper then the options I’ve presented above (or to the left).

From what I gather the product may not be at the same level of quality that you’ll get from the other brands but it’ll do the same job (shade at the beach) just maybe not as well, or for as long. You can hit up the brands online stores direct to get one, or hit the button above if ya feeling lucky to see where you might end up.