Saturday, July 27, 2013

Review of Collapsable Water Hoses

After 14 years of use, by RV hose was starting to show the burden of years of service. It was relegated to deep storage as a backup as I purchased a set of collapsable water hoses. These are the hoses that when the water is turned off shrink to a fraction of their size. For RVs where storage is limited and folding 25ft stiff hoses can be bothersome, I thought these collapsible hoses are just the thing for RVs to use to connect to city water systems. After my experience using the hose, I cannot recommend them. They are not a good investment.

The hose connected nicely enough. It expanded when filed with water. It collapsed as promised when the water was turned off. It fold up nicely for storage, taking little storage space. The issue is durability. Simply put this hose didn't last long...it is a 100 meter sprinter that does not have the endurance to run even a kilometer.

Our recent RV trip last nine days over three different campgrounds. We deployed the hose in three campgrounds. On the eighth day the hose leaked in multiple places across a three foot section at such a rate the no water was coming out the other end. At most the hose was in service for 152 hours before its lining ruptured.

Utilization in an RV, it does not hold up to the demands. While it may last a little longer in a house deployment where you water the garden and lawn for a few hours at a time several times a week, 200 hours would mean it may last two season, and possibly part of a third.

I'm sticking to the standard rubber and plastic hoses.

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