Dane and Scott Barnes are brothers who grew up in Emerald Isle, North Carolina and loved family vacations to the beach. One thing they noticed they did not love was flimsy beach umbrellas and heavy tents that were difficult to set up, and did not provide enough shade. This was especially annoying to the brothers because every year on vacation, they were the ones in charge of setting up their spot on the beach for their parents and other family. They came up with their first prototype with PVC pipe and a sheet. People would come up to them on the beach and ask where they bought the tent. This led them to think of ways to create a more lightweight, effective shade area that works with the wind, and market it.

The material consists of a two-tone blue material for shade and a long pole that goes throught the long end. This is all packed into a small black bag connected to the sheet so that when you have everything out, you put sand in the bag and that anchors the whole mechanism. The sheet then is able to freely flow in the wind and provide shade.

Alex Slater, another friend of theirs joined the brothers in creating the Shibumi. Now, the Shibumi is being sold on all 7 continents and providing shade all around the world. The three young entrepreneurs went to Chapel Hill, in North Carolina where they came up with the idea for the name of company. They said this was the hardest part, and decided on using the name of the apartment building they lived in, which was Shibumi.