Misting Fan Umbrella – Full-Size Shade with a Built-In Fan and Hand-Pump Mist

A full-size stick umbrella with a fan in the canopy and a mist pump in the handle

Open it and you get a proper eight-rib umbrella with a black-coated top and a colored underside. Press the orange button and a small propeller fan set into the mesh at the center of the canopy blows air straight down onto you. Attach a bottle of water at the base of the handle, and a second button pumps a spray of water up into the canopy for the fan to carry down. Shade, moving air and water, in one thing you can carry.

What it actually is

• A straight stick umbrella. It does not fold. Slide the runner up the shaft until its orange latch catches; it is about as long closed as it is tall open.
• A fan under the hub. A small three-blade propeller sits in an octagonal honeycomb-mesh panel at the center of the underside, mounted on the shaft just below the hub, and pushes air down toward whoever is holding it. The mesh keeps fingers away from the blades and lets the fan pull air through from above.
• A hand-pump mister. A cap on the base of the handle unscrews to expose a feed tube. The tube goes into a bottle of water, and the spray button on the back of the handle pumps water up the shaft to the canopy. The pump is manual: one press, one spray. It is not on a timer and it does not run on the batteries.
• Battery power for the fan only. The fan runs on four AA batteries in the handle. They are not included, so order a set with it.

The fan

It is a small fan, and it is meant to be. Held over your head it makes a steady downward draft on your face, neck and shoulders, the kind of moving air that makes standing in a queue or sitting on a sideline bearable rather than a wind that will dry you off. It matters most on still days: if there is already a breeze, the shade is doing the work and the fan is a bonus.

The battery compartment is a sliding cover on the back of the handle. Four AA cells run the fan for a session of a few hours; carry spares for a full day out.

The mist, described honestly

The spray comes out at the top of the canopy, near the hub, and the fan spreads it as it falls. Because it is a hand pump you press it whenever you want water, and each press gives you one spray, not a fine standing fog. Some of what comes down arrives as drops rather than mist, especially with the fan off, so run the fan while you spray and expect to get a little damp. On a hot afternoon that is the point.

Ice water in the bottle makes a real difference. A small bottle comes with the umbrella. A narrow-neck plastic water bottle can stand in for it if you want more water, but the fit depends on the bottle, so try it at home first. The bottle hangs from the base of the handle while you use it, which does make the handle end longer and a little heavier; unscrew it when you only want shade and fan.

The shade

The outside of the canopy is black-coated fabric that stops light coming through the weave, so the space under it is properly dark rather than glowing. The colored underside is what you and everyone facing you actually see, which is why it comes in seven colors.

Size

Colors

Every version is black on the outside. The color you pick is the underside: Orange, Sky (a blue sky and cloud print), Pink, Flower (a pale blue tropical print), Black, Rose (a deep pink) and Blue (a bright cyan).

What arrives

• One umbrella with the fan and the mist pump built into the handle, wrist strap attached
• One small water bottle for the mister
• No batteries: bring four AA cells

The chairs, coolers and beach scenes in the photographs are there to show the scale and the setting. None of them come in the box.

Where it earns its place

• Sidelines and bleachers. Hours in the open with nowhere to stand but the sun.
• Queues. Theme parks, festivals, outdoor markets, anywhere you stand still in the heat.
• Walking. It is a walking umbrella first; the fan and mist are for when the walk is hot.
• Gardening and yard work. Set the handle against something and work under it.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Fan in the canopy: A small propeller in the mesh center blows air straight down on you at the press of the orange button.
• Hand-pump mist: Attach a bottle at the handle base and each press of the spray button sends water up into the canopy for the fan to carry down.
• Full-size shade: Eight ribs, about 41 inches across, black-coated on top so the shade underneath stays dark.
• Simple power: The fan runs on four AA batteries you can buy anywhere; the mister needs none.
• Seven undersides: Black outside every time, with the color you choose on the inside.