Light Weight Hose

[Jeff Body]

I'm over it. I've used a commercial hose from HF forever now. It's heavy, stiff, and a pain to wrap up.
I mostly use it to wash the cars with.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a light-weight flexible hose.
I'm willing to pay good money for something that will last a while also.

What have you guys had good luck with?

[Bruce Wrenn]

Swan, Apex, and Ace brands have all served me well over the years. The Swan is "Soft and Supple." Beware of any hose with a stripe on it, as all I've used tend to kink BADLY! I own over a thousand foot of hose. Once, fourth neighbor down(we are on two acre lots) the street's well pump quit, so I just ran hose from my well to their outside faucet, to get them by until pump could be fixed. Not a lot of pressure, but it would flush toilets, and allow for a quick shower. I have one hose, that from the day I picked it up by the curb, has been running to second neighbor over's house. As with many houses in this area, we and they have bulk storage tanks. Use hose, or well to fill tank, and booster pump to house. When they do a lot of laundry, or have guests, well can't keep up, so they get water from my well.

[Tom M King]

Gatorhyde. We've switched out all the hoses we use around the house, and farm to them. I'm still using old, stiff ones for the pressure washer, but am kind of looking forward to have to replace them. Not only are they everything else you want in a hose, but the ends are stainless steel, and they are drinking water safe. They're available in about any diameter, and length you would want.

edited to add: Even our horses are spoiled to them. They won't drink water run through any other, regular hose.

When the hoses first come, they will have a set from being coiled up. That doesn't last.

[Bill Dufour]

I use the sears craftsman rubber hoses. They stay soft in cold weather. Be careful and only get real rubber. The so called rubber hoses at HF are not. they are synthetic and stiff in cold weather. craftsman hose is life time warranty but not for cuts fro mthe mower.
Bill D.

[Jim Koepke]

craftsman hose is life time warranty

A salesperson once explained to me a "life time warranty" is not necessarily for the life of the owner. It can be a life time the industry sets for a particular product.

jtk

[Stan Calow]

Check out the hoses at a farm supply dealer, like Tractor Supply Company if you have them. I use several light hoses to water the lawn and garden, and they usually fail at the "brass" connectors.

[Michael J Evans]

Gatorhyde. We've switched out all the hoses we use around the house, and farm to them. I'm still using old, stiff ones for the pressure washer, but am kind of looking forward to have to replace them. Not only are they everything else you want in a hose, but the ends are stainless steel, and they are drinking water safe. They're available in about any diameter, and length you would want.

edited to add: Even our horses are spoiled to them. They won't drink water run through any other, regular hose.

When the hoses first come, they will have a set from being coiled up. That doesn't last.

Fun fact
My dad invented and we manufactured that product here in Oregon. My grandfather literally told my Dad we were going to start making polyurethane hose and my dad figured everything out from scratch. Not bad for a high school drop out. We still have some 1/2" I.D in stock.

[lowell holmes]

I think we are talking about garden hoses here. Just go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy one.

[Tom M King]

Fun fact
My dad invented and we manufactured that product here in Oregon. My grandfather literally told my Dad we were going to start making polyurethane hose and my dad figured everything out from scratch. Not bad for a high school drop out. We still have some 1/2" I.D in stock.

That's great! Tell him the hoses are well loved here, by us, and the animals. I forget how many we have, but it's more than a few.

[Jeff Body]

I talked to a few of my detailing friends and this is what they suggested and I ended up with a Zero-G hose. It's very similar to a fire hose. It has a rubber core inside a woven fiber jacket. It's NOT an expandable hose so it wouldn't have the same problems of bursting because of the constant expanding and contracting.


If this one fails I'm going to try a flexzilla hose.

[Michael J Evans]

I talked to a few of my detailing friends and this is what they suggested and I ended up with a Zero-G hose. It's very similar to a fire hose. It has a rubber core inside a woven fiber jacket. It's NOT an expandable hose so it wouldn't have the same problems of bursting because of the constant expanding and contracting.


If this one fails I'm going to try a flexzilla hose.

Jeff, as a hose professional aka hoser. There are always going to be trade offs. 99% of the hoses you find at the big box stores are crap. They're all labeled kink free and or contractor grade and they are not. Most of them are very simply, very cheaply made PVC hoses or PVC formulations. They usually all kink badly and don't last. In regards to these cloth covered expandable hoses, they are also crap. I really do think it's a neat idea and if they didn't try to make them as cheaply as possible then they would probably be okay, but they're literally some type of latex tubing In a cheap sleeve. Like I said above I think they're a neat idea and for very light use probably okay.
I am probably biased (as I said above we used to manufacture our own hose) but for the longest term durability, lightness and best kink resistance a 100% polyurethane hose is simply the best. They are about 1/3rd the weight of a actual rubber hose, last longer outdoors and have better abrasion resistance. Unfortunately no one really makes anything like that now that we closed down that division of our business. There is one place now who we have make 5/8" for us. But it's hard to bring a $65 garden hose to market, when Walmart is selling disposables for $20.
Next in line after a poly hose for long lasting durability would be a real contractors grade red rubber hose. Typically will only find at a hose shop or industrial supply. But real rubber is very heavy. Their are some nice PVC hoses on the market (hard to find) and flexzilla has done very well with theirs. I find it has a good weight to durability ratio and seems to handle well. PVC isn't as durable as rubber but for light homeowner use probably okay.

[Erik Loza]

I have a PU Gatorhyde that has outlasted several regular ones. It's the coiled type. Not sure they're even available any more. I agree with what Michael just said: There is no kink-free hose from any of the big-box retail places. I've tried to go the cheap route and think I just need to pony up the $$$ for another Gatorhyde when the time comes.

Erik