This popular device that makes beach umbrellas better was invented in SC. Here’s how it happened

If you visit a Grand Strand beach on a sunny day, chances are you’ll see one of Mike’s Spikes — green and white umbrella anchors that use pile-drive installation to secure beach umbrellas. The spikes have been sold along the East Coast and even as far as the Caribbean, but they were created right here in North Myrtle Beach.

Inventor Mike Haney created the original Mike’s Spike over Easter weekend in 2006 in a North Myrtle Beach condo after his wife Cathy pointed out their umbrella was the only one on the beach withstanding the wind. He had used a piece of PVC pipe and a wing screw as an umbrella holder. After hammering it into the ground, Mike emptied the sand to securely anchor the umbrella.

“[Cathy] said, ‘Well, if that works so well, why doesn’t everybody else do it?’ And I said, ‘Well, everybody doesn’t want to carry a sledgehammer and all that stuff down here,’” Haney said. “And all of a sudden, it was like the old bulb went off, and I was like, ‘Cathy, I got a great idea.’”

That same day, Haney went to Lowe’s and built the first Mike’s Spike. A late-night test at the beach revealed that, like its inspiration, the prototype had no problem handling beach winds.

“We came out after midnight because I didn’t want anybody seeing my idea. We came out [to the beach], and there were a few people who thought we were stupid out here putting this umbrella up,” Haney said. “It was still windy, but we put our umbrella in. It worked great.”

Despite its success, Mike’s Spike wouldn’t hit shelves until four years later. The Haneys returned to their home outside Charlotte, where Mike worked in construction until 2010, when his company was forced to close due to economic downturn.

The couple decided to take a chance on Mike’s Spike, and Haney built the first couple hundred umbrella anchors in their garage. They gave demonstrations in shops from Charleston to Wilmington and regional festivals to prove that most anyone can install the anchor without straining. Since then, Mike estimates they’ve sold more than 60,000 of the umbrella anchors.

“We love it … it’s women friendly, female friendly. We were able to set these up all by ourselves, no man needed,” said Kim Puckett, visiting North Myrtle Beach from Hamlet, North Carolina.

Puckett bought her first Mike’s Spike six years ago and got a second two years ago, which she leaves at her mother-in-law’s house in the Grand Strand for relatives to use when she’s not in town.

Last year, beach supply company George J Marshall Inc. took over distribution of Mike’s Spikes. Haney still attends some trade shows, like The Big Kahuna in Myrtle Beach and Surf Expo in Orlando and continues to invent.

Haney modified his beach chair to add arm rests, extend the back and fly a Mike’s Spikes flag. He’s also created a table which rests on Mike’s Spike called Umbrella Fella, which he hopes to start selling with George Marshall.

“He’s just got that kind of mind. There’s nothing that he buys that he’ll leave it alone. He’s got to engineer it back to something, because he used to be a home builder,” Cathy Haney said. “He can fix anything that anybody can come up with, he’ll fix it. In fact, people call him MacGyver.”