I have Swan Soft and Supple hoses in the hose reels. Never a kink problem.
They are over 15 years old.

Oh Drat! I thought this was going to be much more fun :)
I know what you mean though, they can be so frustrating, trying not to pull them over your plants, then all of a sudden the kink kicks out & they jump over & break your lily you've been waiting over a year to see, the day before it blooms! I need to check into Swan.

I saw some in the hardware store or Home Depot? that are claimed not to kink. I felt I had to go the cheapest route and don't even have a hose reel yet, they are $20 at Walmart and I don't know how well they work.

My hoses are a pain; if they don't kink, they don't coil neatly. I just live with it, did put up hose guides which help some.

Yes I have hose guides also.
I bought 1 hose reel at an auction,that holds 200 ft of hose for 25.00 the other at a yard sale for 5.oo that I tore apart and use that for the swimming pool vaccuum hose.
The better homes and gardens reel I bought many moons ago at a discount place.
If you don't beat em up they will last a long time.
As far as hoses go, you get what you pay for I have found out. I have a cheapo one next to the house that kinks, but I lay it on the concrete on a warm day and it usually straightens out. I just use it to fill watering cans.

I just had a huge garden area cleared and plowed up to start next year. I know I am going to have to get water up there, so taking the edger/trencher and going to cut a line up to the new area, then disconnect in the fall.
I have had "sunken hoses" for many years,and quick disconnects.

buzylizzy where did you find Swan Soft and/or Supple hose?

ngraham I thought I would get some attention with the title! I couldn't resist. How are you doing?

aliska12000 I'm not impressed with my hose reel. I got it at Lowe's. I think they are all a pain in the butt. They usually won't hold more than 2 hoses and you wear yourself out trying to crank them all back in. They're usually not heavy enough to crank without tipping over. Would love to have one that you push a button and it automatically reels the hoses in.

I thought I was paying a lot for a "good" hose that was $30. It kinks worse than the cheap ones. I will have to get some garden guides for sure because there is no way to water my garden without dragging it through the flowers.

Just did some research and found out that they are Swan Soft and Supple hoses (not two different brands!) duh! There appears to be mixed reviews and the negative seem to out weigh the good. Anyone else with opinions on hoses that don't kink?

Stretching them out in the sun may help, thanks for that idea. I think all the big box stores carry essentially that same plastic hose reel. I was afraid that it would be cumbersome, had a metal one years ago and a rubber hose that worked ok, think I still have that rubber one, have 3 plus a soaker hose going now.

I got cheap stake-type plastic hose guides and bought 2 of those screw-in doggie stakes. The cheap plastic ones seem to work a little better as they have a groove whereas the doggie stakes you have to be careful not to go over the top of them. I still have to watch what I am doing.

At least the reel if you get a decent one keeps things neater.

Sometimes it's just easier to fill the sprinkling can than wrestle with the hose. Mulch is helping me having to water less often, maybe too much so because my new rhodies started wilting on the top, caught them in time. With the mulch, you can't always tell how dry the ground is unless you poke into it. With the bare ground I haven't gotten around to mulching or composting yet, it cracks so I know!

I bought mine at the local hardware store.
If you have a Big Lots near you, they sometimes have amazing deals on good hoses.
Last year I found white water hose for the neighbor at 1/3 of the price at the hardware store.
I also noticed Dollar General had some nice hose there also.
There is a Target opening up 20 miles away, so I don't know how their pricing is.
I have plenty of hose, so don't need to buy, but I would check the discount places first.
I don't know about the reviews I just know I have had mine for over 15 years, probably more like 20 years.
Those heavy duty hose carts sure are nice, but with a price tag of 69.99
It's like anything else, if you take care of it, the product will last longer. Like the cheapo Weedeater Weedwacker I had for 15 years, still ran like a champ, but I bought a present for myself, a new Stihl and gave the Weedeater to the neighbor, still running since I gave to him 3 years ago. Yet, my buddy down the road hates them, goes thru 1 or 2 a year!

I don't know what the brand name is on my best hose - it's so many years old the only thing I can read on it is 'Flexogen'. I know it was expensive, more so than the two on other outlets, but it's a dream. Enough so that it's always on the faucet/hose holder that DH uses for car, truck, driveway cleanup instead of where I can best use it for gardening. Never kinks, twists, gives any grief at all.

I've bought just about every kind over the years including those that say 'professional quality' at Costco...cheaper isn't any bargain in the long run.

I made myself curious so looked to see if I could find my hose (that I never get to use because someone else has taken it over) online - it's Gilmour 8 ply Flexogen Hose 5/8-Inch-by-100-Foot. $56 at Amazon right now (which probably works out to about $5 per year used and still going strong) but I clearly remember treating 'myself' to it at Bainbridge Gardens on Bainbridge Island one spring a very long time ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: Flexogen hose on Amazon

Just read this thread - omg - the same thing happens to me every morning - unfortunately, I have ruined a few hoses by pulling and then making a hole, which totally ruins the hose...I am going to read all the responses to this great thread... thanks

Carrie

I am DONE dragging hose around as we finally broke down this spring and had irrigation put in. Yeah, we sure can pick the year - it's rained so much I've worried about plants drowning!

But I did just run out with a flashlight and check the brand on my hose reel which worked VERY hard and well for me over the "hose dragging" years. It is an AMES hose king. I don't remember it being very expensive and we have had it for over half a dozen years without a problem. I highly recommend it. Just checked and is available from True Value Hardware. Now that I am thinking of it, my garden cart is made by Ames and I love that too. Maybe they are a good bet for a decent hose?

We did sprinkler system last year but I still need to use the hoses, but luckily not as much as the years before. I just don't find that the plants are watered deep enough with the system. It's mostly for the grass but with 100 degree days - the grass is still starting to look crispy - no matter what.

Carrie

Oh man! I'm getting those! I'm in the same boat......it takes me more time dragging hoses around fighting kinks than it takes me to actually water LOL!
Thanks goodness most of the thirsty plants are pretty much grouped in one area...whew.

Vera

hubs went to sams club and bought me 200' of proffessional strength hose doesn't kink, and tabor had to make sure of that while i was watering, i thought man my water flow is getting a little low, whats the deal, but it was only a little low, it didn't kink. the only thing this baby does is get into knots sometimes, uhhhh my fault. LOL i go around the yard and aroudn the seedlings. hmmmm wonder why its in another knot??? LOL we paid 22 for it i think. ~Medo

P,S
i want 1 more for the back yard then maybe i wouldnt have so many knots!! LOL **big grinn**

My hose gets kinked once in a while but its far too short to get seriously knotted. I think there might be some truth to that going blind thing if eyeglass prescription changes are any indication.

PS - Yes I still come here and yes I am still full of mischief. ;-)

Hi Mud! Long time no see! Sorry to hear about that kinked hose of yours. Maybe you need a urologist, not an eye doctor...

Karen

Mudinmyshorts I've been telling hubby that for years!

I just looked and I have one of those Flexogen hoses also!
I "adopted" that one from the closed business bedside where I worked, and before they had it all brush hogged down.
It developed a weak spot near the end, and a pinhole, so just cutting off and putting on a new end.

The BEST 350.00 of gardening $$$$$$$$ I spent was last year, had the plumber raise spicots brass and copper to 18 inches high, add another in the poolhouse and run 1 inch lines to the pool area. Cut in the line in the basement, ball valve at lowest point so I only have to bleed the valves and open the ball valve before hard freeze.

Now, the only place I have to seriously drag the hose reel is to the fenced garden area. I could trench lines to there, but I would have to cut the cement sidewalk,ugg.

Well, I think the idea of kinkless depends on what you consider a kink. I think most hose makers consider a kink as being one that occurs at the faucet when the hose is pulled too tightly the opposite way. So there are several out there with supports built in at the hook up to prevent this.

My idea of a kink is when you have pulled it all the way around the house to find you have no water and backtrack halfway around and find a kink (or two or three or four) in the actual hose where it has bent and shut of the flow of water.

That said, I'm beginning to think that there is no such hose that will not kink in the hose itself. I just got back from Lowe's where I purchased two Swan Soft and Supple hoses (100 ft for $37). As I was unwinding them and stretching them out they kinked. So now it will be a test as to how well they stand up to being dragged hither and yon and to the crazy Missouri winters.