Water hose

I am looking for a garden hose. I would like something between a flexible and solid one, for easy storage. The flexible ones we have had cannot hold too much water pressure and the solid ones usually end up in a tangled mess :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
Any recommendations, please?

I like Hozelock products - I think the secret to keeping a hose from getting tangled is to store it on a wall-mounted reel so that you pull out only the length you need, and can wind it back tidily afterwards with minimum fuss.

(This is with a solid hose BTW).

I also like the various fittings that they do, including auto-shut-off connectors.

I have our hose divided into two sections with the connectors at each end so it can be used at full length or half-length as required. Most of the time though I just leave it as full-length and stored on the reel.

(€15-€30 cashback if you are quick, deal ends Sunday)

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This is the type I have and it’s 15 years old no problem with pressure or flow rate the diametre is 19mm


https://www.weldom.fr/p/tuyau-d-arrosage-equipe-geolia-l-25-m-diam-19-mm-88460828

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We got an extendable one from Action of all places that works well. It’s usually cheap couplers that let things down -

With the normal hose - the thicker ones don’t kink as badly as cheaper ones - they still get tangled unless you learn to be patient when you’ve finished.

Rolls do stop them tangling - if budget stretches the Hozelock wall mounted ones were great (self retracting rather than the hand wind). They were great and by far the easiest option - but length is limited (says someone who put his potager 70m from the tap)

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For myself, I would say the opposite! We have a self-retractor at the front and a hand-wind at the back (how posh).

The self-retractor is a pain because its locking mechanism has worn out, so when you pull it out you are having to fight the resistance of the retraction system, and if you let go of it it whizzes back into its hutch like Roadrunner from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons. :slight_smile:

The hand-wound one is a much calmer experience. :slight_smile: But YMMV.

I suspect you bought the Acme Products reel. You should have gone for Hozelock :grin:

And don’t worry, with the Wile E Coyote movies everything turns out right in the second reel :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :laughing:

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Guilty as charged. :smiley:

(actually it is a Hozelock, just a very old and sun-bleached one). i can’t really complain as it must be 20 years old - it would have been installed by my father and he died in 2007.

Yes - Hozelock’s green dye doesn’t seem to like high levels of UV. Daft choice of colour, really.

We have 3 of the magic self extending elasticated hoses all linked together which were bought at different times from our local supermarket.
They seem to be quite long lived and can easily cope with our normal household water pressure of around 2.5 bars. The secrets to a long life are not to leave the hose under pressure when not in use, to turn on the water gradually to slowly pressurise the hose, to have hose end fitments that allow the hose to be emptied when putting it away, store it on a reel or in the bag that came with it, never hang it on a hook or stanchion, and avoid driving over it.

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19mm is the way to go, just remember to get fittings that match.

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I bought two 20 m hozelock hoses about a month ago. They are substantial and anti tangle/anti kink and work brilliantly. One is fixed in place to provide the overnight watering for my raised beds and the other is in the back garden just in a heap, not spooled. You can just pull it along the ground from one end and it really does just seem to unravel straight without any problem. I’m impressed but will have to see how it ages. They weren’t particularly expensive.

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VG - thank you for the second opinion.

As mentioned above we have a Hozelock auto-reely thing which has done 20 years plus and the only issue is the lock that is meant to stop it retracting when unreeled, which doesn’t do a lot any more.

But as you say they are reasonably priced bits of kit.

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When it comes to anything hose related you can’t go far wrong with Gardena.

They do a great spring powered auto retract range, in a few different lengths, 15m, 25m, 35m

It keeps it all neat when stored and and you don’t have to manually wind it up.

I bought a 2nd one from the Bricomarche a few weeks ago.

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We went to our local Leclerc brico and they had a promo for Gardena hoses and accessories. There was a display section where it had the different standards of hose so you could see and feel how flexible they were. We ended up buying this one:


and also a Gardena Clever Roll (Metal) like this one:

so we’re all set up now for easier watering times with no twisted and kinked hoses.

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Just don’t mix metal and plastic fittings as I’ve found the metal tears up the plastic.

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We had one of these for a few years without any problems, until we needed to flush a kitten from a water pipe! As we increased the pressure the hose exploded!

Explored the pipe, or the kitten? :smiley:

I had forgotten the rest of the skit :rofl:

Predicted :rage: :wink:

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