looking for a very high quality rubber hose

[jbclem]

I've been looking for a 100% rubber hose, and there are plenty to chose from. But when you start reading the negative Amazon reviews they all end up looking very suspect, and after a while it seems like everything is now made to Chinese quality standards (works great but only for a short while).

I have an old 3/4" rubber hose, it's been out in the sun for at least 10 years and showing no signs of deterioration. It's not very flexible, but that's a sign of the thickness and robustness of the rubber. It was probably made before hose standards changed, and that's what I'm trying to find...another one just like it. Is there such a thing any more?

[Mark_Thompson]

viewtopic.php?t=2335

[zeuspaul]

Sears has a good rubber garden hose likely not up to your standards. I don't know about current availability it has been over five years since I purchased one. Chances are recent hoses may have different fittings than previous ones.

[Paulf]

Craftsman used to have a very good garden hose. I purchased two 50 footers in 2018 and 2019 and they are the best I have ever had. Looking back on my Amazon history and trying to bring them forward, they are not being sold any more on Amazon. There are a couple of heavy duty all rubber garden hoses made in the USA that sound like they might fit the bill.

[jbclem]

Mark_Thomson...thanks for the link. It seems like I need to start going to yard sales looking for
used older Craftsman rubber hoses if I want to find quality.

Paulf...it's very useful to see the dates you mentioned, 2018 and 2019, since I've been reading reviews talking about current Craftsman hoses being junk... .

[Rockporter]

Sorry so late in responding to this question as I intended on responding when I initially read it but got side tracked and have been busy. I went back and forth on buying a new hose back in march 2019 because all the hoses with promises of no kink, 5 year warranties, yada yada just wound up being junk. Another issue I have is my arthritis and the ability to manage a heavy hose was a huge factor, and I needed a 50 footer so a heavy hose was a dreaded thought.

I found Water Right hoses online, made in america, and expensive, but I really did as much research as I possibly could before I finally decided about 3 months later to buy one. So in march 2019 I purchased the 600 series hose in the 50 foot length with stainless steel fittings. The promise of a smaller hose, and lighter weight with just as good or better than it's counterpart made me decide it was what I was willing to try even though it cost me $106.70 before taxes. This has been the best hose I have ever owned, it is easy to manage even for me as I can hold the entire hose in my hands and carry it easily. I dread having to use my husbands heavy rubber hose that kinks constantly and is too big to handle. The current price for the same hose is $134.95 on their website. I am contemplating buying another one for the garden since I have expanded it but really I can get everywhere in the garden with it but I would like to go further than the garden such as to my compost heap and I can't quite get far enough to it, lol.

This same hose is available on amazon with a brass fitting and so it is less costly. I cannot recommend a better hose in my experience and as of now it is like new, no fading, just as flexible and the no kink is real, just pull on it if it does and the kink comes right out without fuss, unless you are around a corner then you need to get the hose off whatever is causing it to kink. This hose stays in the outdoors on the holder and in the direct sun daily. Oh and the best part is this is a safe hose for drinking water.

Here is the website for their hoses.

https://www.waterrightinc.com/products/ ... 8808367173

Here is the amazon link.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=water+right+ ... doa-p_1_11

[Tormato]

I'l be keeping my eye out for a new heavy duty rubber hose, as my 60+ year old Craftsman won't last forever.

It is now about 48 1/2 feet long, without one end fitting. Last winter, It was very warm outside one day, so I brought the hose out to do some clean up. I failed to reel it all the way back on to its holder. A couple of days later it snowed and I ran over the hose end with the snowblower. I put one small cut into it, but the big problem was that it was so tightly wound around the auger axle, that cutting off a small section was basically the only way to remove it. And, with the temperature at about 32 degrees, that hose was more like steel than rubber. The old end fitting was also corroding to the point of the threads were starting to break off of the end. I was not attaching anything for a few years, so no end fitting doesn't matter. It's unknown what length I will find, if I find a good hose. 50'? 75'? 100'? So, I will save the old one to use as an emergency extender, if needed.

The vast majority of hoses are pieces of junk, as I have to occasional do some watering for neighbors, with their hoses. I hear there are still some quality ones out there, but companies might now be skimping on the quality of the fittings.

A heavy duty rubber hose is heavy. For ease of use, it needs a good rotating reel for winding on and off.

I'll have to walk the property to see what length would be most useful. That measurement, at the same time, is needed to see what length of 10 or 12 gauge heavy duty electrical extension cord I need for the new toy, a 15 amp Super Sawzall.

2023 is looking like a lot of watering and fruit tree pruning, now that my ankle is completely healed.

I will also look into drip irrigation, this year.

And the biggest pain for me is sliding that old hose around the garden. Sometimes it needs to go out 30 feet and then turn 90 degrees and go another 20 feet. If I just pulled on it, it would start moving into the garden growing area and damage plants. I think that a large, open-ended screw eye, attached to a wooden stake that can be pounded into the ground easily, with the hose passing through it, will solve the problem. I could also bury some vertical pipes in the ground at about soil level, where the screw eye devise could easily be slipped in and out of.

[Kurt]

We gave up on th rubber down here.Been using stainless steel for past ten years.This is the American firm site.
https://snowjoe.com/products/sun-joe-aj ... less-steel

[JRinPA]

Hose routing could be as simple as a short length of rebar driven in the ground and covered with a length of PVC for a roller bushing.

Good luck find a heavy hose, I am in the yard sale camp.

The only new hose I have experience with is the Giraffe hose and retractable reel we got for the comm garden; it is working well, this will be the third season. I would not call it heavy duty, but it light so everyone can use it easily and the reel works well. The included color matched nozzle broke last year. Two little plastic pins inside the fireman style throttle let go. Luckily it is locked on full so we use an inline ball valve before the nozzle to adjust. The reel started showing discoloration on the plastic after the first season. It is in full sun. I spray painted with textured rustoleum last year for UV protection. It totally feels like a modern short lifespan product - made to be slick and easy to use but I get the feeling that the smallest diversion from perfection will give it the excuse to break.

[Mark_Thompson]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Continental ... /100676339

Posted this product in that last thread too, but this hose has been awesome. Five plus years in year round Hawaiian sun and as good as new. Don’t know about cold and snow and all that mythological stuff y’all talk about though. I have five or six fifty footers and highly recommend.

[Kraky]

+1 for stainless steel, I've tried a few different hoses (though not the rubber one) and the stainless steel one works very well.

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Continental ... /100676339

Posted this product in that last thread too, but this hose has been awesome. Five plus years in year round Hawaiian sun and as good as new. Don’t know about cold and snow and all that mythological stuff y’all talk about though. I have five or six fifty footers and highly recommend.

This is the hose I purchased last week; crossing fingers it is decent. We remove our hoses and store inside over the winter so they are not directly exposed to winter weather.

[Tormato]

Hose routing could be as simple as a short length of rebar driven in the ground and covered with a length of PVC for a roller bushing.

Good luck find a heavy hose, I am in the yard sale camp.

The only new hose I have experience with is the Giraffe hose and retractable reel we got for the comm garden; it is working well, this will be the third season. I would not call it heavy duty, but it light so everyone can use it easily and the reel works well. The included color matched nozzle broke last year. Two little plastic pins inside the fireman style throttle let go. Luckily it is locked on full so we use an inline ball valve before the nozzle to adjust. The reel started showing discoloration on the plastic after the first season. It is in full sun. I spray painted with textured rustoleum last year for UV protection. It totally feels like a modern short lifespan product - made to be slick and easy to use but I get the feeling that the smallest diversion from perfection will give it the excuse to break.

Did I ever tell you about my mortal enemy, my garden rake? I affectionately call her Fiona.

If I ever installed rebar above surface, I'd be tripping all over it. If I installed a PVC pipe at surface level, slipped in rebar, and slipped over that another piece of PVC (with perhaps gluing on a wide flange at the bottom), the rebar and top piece of PVC being removable. that would work for me.

[Tormato]

WalMart has a hose guide/roller for $2.97.

My possible problem is that the roller is on a spike maybe about 7-8 inches long, my garden soil is extremely soft, and the hose is very heavy. I think the solution will be to bury some pipe that is about twice the length of that spike, and then slip the spike into the pipe.

This thread gets me thinking about the next showerhead that I'll eventually look for.

I want my sore body, after a day of filthy gardening, to take a pummeling massage with hot water. Perhaps a 3/4" ID garden hose, with an outdoor jet spray attachment will work in the shower?

[MissS]

@Tormato yes! I would love to find a water wasting showerhead. These new ones just don't cut it after a hard day in the garden. I love your idea of using a garden hose attachment. Another thing to look into is one of those doggy showerhead attachments. I have to look into this more...

[Mark_Thompson]

I’ve got an outdoor shower that’s about 11 feet from my tomato patch. It’s not a garden hose, but it does feel pretty damn good.

[Rockporter]

WalMart has a hose guide/roller for $2.97.

My possible problem is that the roller is on a spike maybe about 7-8 inches long, my garden soil is extremely soft, and the hose is very heavy. I think the solution will be to bury some pipe that is about twice the length of that spike, and then slip the spike into the pipe.

This thread gets me thinking about the next showerhead that I'll eventually look for.

I want my sore body, after a day of filthy gardening, to take a pummeling massage with hot water. Perhaps a 3/4" ID garden hose, with an outdoor jet spray attachment will work in the shower?

I have two rollers about 4" apart for the hose to go between so I could keep it from getting caught on the brick wall leading into the garden and it worked great before we added the river rock to the area. The hose is too high now for those to work because the rock fills the area too much and your idea for that pipe buried and put the spikes into is a great idea.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections/5013584775


I bought this wand a few months ago at Lowe's for the idea for an outdoor shower head. I use the shorter one for the garden and that water shoots out really well no matter what spray pattern I put it on and the ability to adjust the flow is perfect. I think this would work well for you. I plan to use an instant hot water heater when we build the outdoor shower, we just have to decide where to put it.

There are three to choose from-one very short, one middle length, and one long length-the link is for the long length which has the ability to move the angle of the shower head, and I use the middle length one in the garden so I don't have to bend too much.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Orbit-Max-8-Pa ... 1000168323

[Paulf]

As a side note: since following this thread all the sites I go to, weather information, other gardening sites, information, social media, etc. have had garden hose commercials pop up almost every time. Some AI is paying pretty close attention.

[Tormato]

WalMart has a hose guide/roller for $2.97.

My possible problem is that the roller is on a spike maybe about 7-8 inches long, my garden soil is extremely soft, and the hose is very heavy. I think the solution will be to bury some pipe that is about twice the length of that spike, and then slip the spike into the pipe.

This thread gets me thinking about the next showerhead that I'll eventually look for.

I want my sore body, after a day of filthy gardening, to take a pummeling massage with hot water. Perhaps a 3/4" ID garden hose, with an outdoor jet spray attachment will work in the shower?

I have two rollers about 4" apart for the hose to go between so I could keep it from getting caught on the brick wall leading into the garden and it worked great before we added the river rock to the area. The hose is too high now for those to work because the rock fills the area too much and your idea for that pipe buried and put the spikes into is a great idea.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections/5013584775


I bought this wand a few months ago at Lowe's for the idea for an outdoor shower head. I use the shorter one for the garden and that water shoots out really well no matter what spray pattern I put it on and the ability to adjust the flow is perfect. I think this would work well for you. I plan to use an instant hot water heater when we build the outdoor shower, we just have to decide where to put it.

There are three to choose from-one very short, one middle length, and one long length-the link is for the long length which has the ability to move the angle of the shower head, and I use the middle length one in the garden so I don't have to bend too much.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Orbit-Max-8-Pa ... 1000168323

Do you know the inner diameter for the pipe on the Orbit Max?

[Rockporter]

WalMart has a hose guide/roller for $2.97.

My possible problem is that the roller is on a spike maybe about 7-8 inches long, my garden soil is extremely soft, and the hose is very heavy. I think the solution will be to bury some pipe that is about twice the length of that spike, and then slip the spike into the pipe.

This thread gets me thinking about the next showerhead that I'll eventually look for.

I want my sore body, after a day of filthy gardening, to take a pummeling massage with hot water. Perhaps a 3/4" ID garden hose, with an outdoor jet spray attachment will work in the shower?

I have two rollers about 4" apart for the hose to go between so I could keep it from getting caught on the brick wall leading into the garden and it worked great before we added the river rock to the area. The hose is too high now for those to work because the rock fills the area too much and your idea for that pipe buried and put the spikes into is a great idea.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections/5013584775


I bought this wand a few months ago at Lowe's for the idea for an outdoor shower head. I use the shorter one for the garden and that water shoots out really well no matter what spray pattern I put it on and the ability to adjust the flow is perfect. I think this would work well for you. I plan to use an instant hot water heater when we build the outdoor shower, we just have to decide where to put it.

There are three to choose from-one very short, one middle length, and one long length-the link is for the long length which has the ability to move the angle of the shower head, and I use the middle length one in the garden so I don't have to bend too much.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Orbit-Max-8-Pa ... 1000168323

Do you know the inner diameter for the pipe on the Orbit Max?

Sorry, I don't and have no idea how to find that out. However I was just looking at the specs on this wand and you can't use hot water in it, bummer In the questions and answers someone addresses the water temps allowed because there is a discrepancy in the listing for min and max temps. The answer from them was that this wand is to be used only with cold water. Because I am in South Texas the ground water is already warm so I wouldn't need to heat it much. Hmm, maybe going another direction for shower head, lol I am glad you asked that question.