To Hozelock, or not to Hozelock

I bought a 10m mini Hozelock reel last year, and though we struggled through the season with it, it's a little short.

I'm wondering whether to extend it or just buy a new, longer hose.

I've not looked into it yet, but with Hozelock being a big brand, is their stuff incompatible with other brands or brandless hoses? Say if I just bought a cheapie hose, 10m or so, can I connect that, or are Hozelock the Apple of the hose industry, and I can only connect their hoses and fittings?

Thanks.

 

I've just ordered a new Hoselock 25m reel to go on a wall. Because I'm sick of having to add bits of hose to water part of the garden.
It was at a good price.

The connectors you can buy in Wilko's are compatable and half the price.

So just buy a cheapo hose and the bits you need to connect the two.

 

I'm using hozelock in the garden and it lasts well. It is all compatible, as above.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the non-kinking hose doesn't kink - it does but not as bad as cheaper hose. I was so fed up of unkinking the in-laws hose while watering theirs while they were away that I bought them a new hozelock hose. It was cheaper than the payments I would've otherwise made to the swear box.

 

Hozelock, overpriced and underperforms.

 

I have a good non kinking hozelock hose .....it does kink but not as much as usual ones. Yes, it has been compatable with all other make of fitments so far.

 

Any recommendations for a decent non kinking hose ?

 

B&Q



Wilko



Eco (el cheapo)



The "value" hoses from B&Q, Wilko and others of a similar design are passable for joining end-to-end.

They are basically all the same but in different colours.

They are very prone to kinking, especially when the weather is hot. And, for some stranger reason, they attract the sharp teeth of urban foxes which can easily perforate the hose material.

Avoid the el cheapo Eco hoses and hoses of a similar design (PVC hose with a polyester fibre mesh outer layer) as they tend to delaminate after about three months under the sun. The delamination causes independent movement of the layers and the hose will leak at the joint fittings.

In the community garden, we use the 30m Claber Top Black hose:




I chose it because it was rated as drinking water safe, thick and very durable. It still kinks but a lot less often than the "value" hoses and most of the Hozelock range.

Generic plastic fittings work perfectly on it but I've replaced most of them with brass fittings instead as I find that they are not robust enough for high frequency usage - the hose is used at least ten times a day for about five months at the highest frequency.

 

Do not go for an El cheapo hose, the Wilko one should be a good quality and price. As above all couplings are Hozelock compatible.

 

Well the first one i got was a Hozelock mini thing, 10m on a reel, narrower than standard hose, bought as a space saving exercise, but we now need more length, and plus, this cheaper, narrower hose kinks to buggery to the point where I can't be bothered using it and instead end up filling countless watering cans.

Now considering the Hozelock Ultimate hose with 30 year guarantee with the idea that it will be the last hose i ever buy, and be done with it. I'll then get the fittings from Wilko as suggested above... Can pick one up for £30 - £35... although that's just the hose - no reel, so I'll have to hand wind it into a coil after use.

thanks.

 

My biggest lesson on hoses has been to always get a reel. Decide whether you want a mobile reel or wall mounted, but always get one. A hose without a reel always wants to tangle itself. I'm speaking here as an ex climber and sailor used to coiling ropes, and as an ex soundman used to coiling cables. Hoses have all the malice of a long rope with the handling awkwardness of a heavy cable. It just isn't worth not having a reel.

Even more annoyingly, it's hard to find anywhere selling reels separately. You can buy hoses on their own, but not reels. So it's way easier to buy a hose with a reel in the first place.

I've got a yellow tough-walled hose which I'm pretty happy with - over 10 years old and not showing any wear at all. I think it's Gardena, but any double-skinned one is likely to be fine Amortized over the time it'll last you, buying one good one is way cheaper in the long run, and way easier to use over that time as well.

 

Yeah, been in two mind about that, it's just a cost thing. Can't wall-mount as we rent our property, but a mobile one might have to be an option...

 

That was what I thought when I first bought a hose too...

The extra cost for a reel is a tenner or so. That's two McDonalds meals, or three Costa coffees. For the amount you'll swear at it without a reel, and the time you'll waste coiling the malignant tapeworm of doom, it's a no brainer.

 

I have a 50m hoselock and its the worst hose for kinking. Drives me mad. The nozzles are very brittle as well. I dropped mine and broke it within the first week.

I bought a verve hose 25m fom B & Q a couple of weeks ago and it kinks far less, in fact not at all since I've had it. Its better value and a better product IMHO.

 

Hoses only kink if you twist them. I've a new hoselock 25m hose on a reel.

If I'm going to use it in the back garden, I drag it through the gate to the right, onto the patio and then as far up the garden as I need to. Then I turn it on and work backwards. It doesn't kink.
When I've finished I bring the rose end back to here, turn it off from the tap but leave the the rose turned on. So as I wind it back, any water in the hose gets expelleed and makes it easier to wind.

I did have a "non-kink" hose for thirty years. The type when there's an inner and outer tube, making them more rigid. It still on occasions kinked, but unlike cheaper hoses you couldwhip and flex to remove the kink, with this you physically had to walk up to the kink and straighten it out.

 

I think that basically any hose will kink if subjected to certain conditions, especially if the hose gets wrapped around the bird bath or whatever. I bought a faily cheap hoes from Lidl. Yellow thick outer must be over an inch dia. Half inch bore, all standard fittings work.

Living one floor up present a problem, nevertheless, when a shower unit was installed I had a word with the young chap and mentioning I had a problem and the toilet cistern was tank fed. He connected the cistern to the mains feed. I then fitted a duly insulated copper pipe down the external wall to a non return valve tap. Close to the cistern I inserted a 'T' joint and attached a flexible pipe with on/off valve.

At the external tap, I connected a length of fairly cheap plastic hose, this crosses to my garden. Here I joined the heavier hose using a simple connector from B&Q. The hose lies on the groind and goes to the greenhouse, say about fifty feet away. In the greenhouse, the hose is connected to a none return valve tap, to this a 'Y' connector. A short length of, 'cheapy hose' allowing for filling a can etc. When we used to go on holiday. I would trmovr thr short hose and connect my automatic watering system. At all times the other side of the 'Y' connector has the garden hose connected.