Hose pipe recommendation wanted

DoubleEnder

DoubleEnder

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I’m going to be in more marinas this year and want a hose to fill the water tank, wash the boat down. I currently have a 15m hose that stows flat, on a reel. It came from the gardening section of a local cheap hardware store and it isn’t looking good, after just a few uses. I don’t think it will last much longer.
Space on board is very limited but I wonder if anyone can suggest a reasonable bit of kit?
Thank you
Graham
 
You'll need much more length if you are travelling. You roughly get what you pay for, and you have to trade bulk for robustness. I have the usual blue hose on a reel from chandlers which is about as handy as I need. It comes with a spray nozzle but I have made up a short length of round hose which is handier for filling the tank. I have seen these collapsible hoses in use and although they seem to work I have also heard of them failing after only a few uses. All hoses are prone to failure and in my experience it is important to avoid exposing them to the full force of the mains pressure, which is sometimes very high. I therefore never block the hose at the nozzle.
 
We have a couple of layflat Gardenia hose reels which must be 20 years old by now, only rarely used when standard 30m? green garden hose needed extending when against quays. I don't use a reel as bulky and don't leave out in sun or water tastes like tcp. Buy decent quality as cheap hoses are usually thin wall and if the spray is turned off, the hose blows out of the connectors. Carry a spare joiner in case of leaks and different size tap connectors.
 
bought one from force 4 broke first time, hose was sleeved to fit euro size hozelocks. gave in and bought a hozelock hose on big cased reel allowing full flow when wound up, got it from tool station. bit bulky but needed a hose I could trust and current generation of flat ones are not good it seems. also bought a shorter one of the expanding ones for when the 25 metre jobbie is overkill. expandable has msade a useful add on to the main one when parked too far from tap, it can be added to the inlet end or outlet end of hozelock hose or used alone which it often has been. had two USA bought expanding ones fail within days so not that robust eiter.
 
gdallas said:
I’m going to be in more marinas this year and want a hose to fill the water tank, wash the boat down. I currently have a 15m hose that stows flat, on a reel. It came from the gardening section of a local cheap hardware store and it isn’t looking good, after just a few uses. I don’t think it will last much longer.
Space on board is very limited but I wonder if anyone can suggest a reasonable bit of kit?
Thank you
Graham
Click to expand...

Hi, I have been looking for a compact hose too and am considering one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brunner-ME...0013T5X0E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 which although a flat hose is actually three small bore hoses side by side so does not lay completely flat when on the reel. This means you do not have to completely remove it from the reel as you do with the normal layflat hose and no kinks that stop the flow. The compromise appears to be a lower flow rate.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
I don't think that 15m is enough for general use, unless you carry another hose to extend it. The other thing that hasn't been mentioned is whether you need a potable water hose and whether a general or garden hose will do any harm. I have been using assorted hoses for nearly 50 years without noticeable harm but prefer to buy food quality ones and wouldn't want to recommend using anything else.
 
Plum said:
Hi, I have been looking for a compact hose too and am considering one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brunner-ME...0013T5X0E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 which although a flat hose is actually three small bore hoses side by side so does not lay completely flat when on the reel. This means you do not have to completely remove it from the reel as you do with the normal layflat hose and no kinks that stop the flow. The compromise appears to be a lower flow rate.
Click to expand...
I use one of those on the caravan, works fine but as you say flow rate is not the best. Not a problem refilling a tank once a week though.

Boo2
 
With my H&S hat on, I have to say you must get food grade hose. In practice, as long as you don't leave water in the hose for any length of time, and flush it through before use, I doubt you'll pick up any measurable amount of contamination.

Over the years, I've had an ordinary garden hose, which is a royal pain as it tangles horribly and is stupidly bulky, a cheap cassette hose that lasted a couple of years before rotting, and something like this, https://www.force4.co.uk/force-4-super-flat-hose-20m.html?sqr=hose&, which is a bit of a pain in the wallet, but mine must be the best part of 10 years old now, so actually a good bit cheaper per year than the cheap cassette. Whether it's long enough in the average marina is something I don't know as I rarely use marinas.
 
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I've got an expanding x-hose that seems to be ok so far. The problem with it though was the valve and stop connector that failed and replaced under warranty which have both failed again. I've done the repair with a small metal valve and a few copper fittings.
 
PBO review: https://www.pbo.co.uk/gear/6-compact-freshwater-hoses-24600

One of my club's boats has a flat hose which is rubbish. I think it must be the Meridian Zero from the above review, as the author correctly identifies that winding it back on the reel is "torturous". It actually has other poor design features which are worse than described, but I'm not sure how to explain them.

For a month last summer I was on a boat which had two lengths of XHose (again, see the above article) which I was very impressed with. I guess we must've had 30M in all, and it fitted easily in a plastic shopping bag. I see similar hose is now available on Amazon and eBay (search for "stretch hose"), although the cheap copies may not be the same quality as the original.
 
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