Aloha! Living in Hawaii, we needed something that will stand up to 20 to 30 mph winds constantly. We have tried using umbrellas, but they just do not work that well, as they fall over constantly so we bought a 12 foot Aleko. Not a good decision as we found out after purchase it can’t handle more than 15mph as it bent when we left it out. The directions were hard to follow, and it took two of us to put it together, and we needed a large rubber hammer. After we put up the brackets, we put the retractable awning up on the back of my house. It looks just ok – nothing great!