Lightweight air hose.

[Rick Potter]

I have a small compressor behind my table saw which I use a lot because it is really quiet, and plenty for running brad nailers and the like. I used a coiled 15' plastic (ceiling hanger type) but hated it for years until it died. Fixed the leak by shortening it but it sprung another within a day.

In the middle of a project, I replaced it with the only lightweight one I could find. HF and HD both had the same one, different package, so I got one. 25 feet, "Lightweight, Flexible, and Durable".

Sorry for the long preamble....I hate this one too. It wants to recoil into the 8" loops it was packaged in, and gets tangled (not kinked) up in itself.

What I want is a LIGHTWEIGHT 25' 1/4" air hose that stays relaxed and I can just loop loosely over the end of my saw fence rail. I have longer rubber hose that would do that, but I really like the lightweight hose for this purpose.


Any suggestions?


PS: I have stretched it out on a hot sidewalk to try to get it to relax, but no luck yet. This has worked for me for some garden hoses.

[mike stenson]

flexeel or flexzilla.

[David Bassett]

I have a love / hate thing going with Flexzilla, but it sounds like it's what you want. I love it because it's basically limp and so easy to use. I hate it because everything, (I exaggerate, but most things,) stick to it so always feels gritty dirty to the touch.

[Jim Becker]

Flexeel has served me well for years.

[Dave Sweeney]

Flexzilla works well for me. I like it so much I also bought their garden hose version.

[Mike Cutler]

25' of just about any soft, low pressure, poly tubing will do what you want. Poly-Flo is the name I am most familiar with.
I have Three, 50', Flexzilla air hoses, 1/2", and unless they have changed something, they do not like to coil back up neatly when pressurized. It's not a problem for me, as mine are always depressurized, but in use, they are not, "kink/knot" free. I still like them though.
David, I don't think you're exaggerating at all with how well they attract everything on the ground, especially if they're wet. ;)

[Frank Pratt]

I like Flexzilla hoses. I haven't experienced the stickiness that David has.

[David Bassett]

I like Flexzilla hoses. I haven't experienced the stickiness that David has.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive. Actually it's more I worry about damaging the (relatively) expensive hose than I find the "patina" unusable. Anyway, I drag the hated stiff HF Poly-something hose out to the drive way to fill up the car tires to save the better hose.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Coilhose Pneumatic makes industrial quality self coiling hoses. I have both one of theirs and a HF orange one. The HF orange one coils up nicely, and as you would expect based upon price, so does the Coilhose Pneumatic.

[Rick Potter]

Thanks folks, the Flexzilla description got me when it said it 'coils flat with no memory'.

That is my main problem with the polyurethane hoses. When I pull it out to use at the bench it bunches up and is a trip hazard. I got my foot caught in it yesterday..not good for us older guys.

I am ordering a 25' length, and may try out the garden hose also.

Thanks again.

R. Franklin Potter
Dean Emeritus of the University of Hard Knocks

[Steve Rozmiarek]

There are actually some good poly air hoses. Good luck picking one that is though. First one I bought is a nice, softer no "bad" memory hose that works well. Second and third are awful. You want a little memory or it is harder to coil, but not too much. Unfortunately, I haven't found one that consistently has the right balance. Flex hoses are too soft in my opinion, but they would probably be just fine for the job you describe. They are squishy when you step on to, so less trip hazard.

[Rick Potter]

Update: I have not yet gotten the Flexzilla hose, but it will be ordered soon.

In the meantime, I have had some success with the cheap HF poly hose I found which I had never used. After three or four days of laying it stretched out on a hot sidewalk, it finally relaxed to the point where I can coil it in a loose 2' loop rather that having it coil up in a tangled 8" loop like it was packaged.

As noted above, two days didn't relax it but four 95 degree days did. I just let it lay out there four days.

[Frank Pratt]

Update: I have not yet gotten the Flexzilla hose, but it will be ordered soon.

In the meantime, I have had some success with the cheap HF poly hose I found which I had never used. After three or four days of laying it stretched out on a hot sidewalk, it finally relaxed to the point where I can coil it in a loose 2' loop rather that having it coil up in a tangled 8" loop like it was packaged.

As noted above, two days didn't relax it but four 95 degree days did. I just let it lay out there four days.

What I like about the Flexzilla hose is that it has no memory at all. You uncoil it & it just lays flat.