I use a coiling hose to water one part of my garden. It's fine over a small area, but then so are most hoses. It does tend to be very heavy as you have to pull it to stretch it out. I don't think I've ever managed to stretch mine out to full capacity. When you see them demonstrated, they're not usually full of water, which makes them much easier to handle so, if you buy one which is 20 metres long you can't count on it watering 20 metres of garden. They can still kink, but mostly the coils seem to catch one another, which can be frustrating. I only use it because I have limited space in that part of the garden to store a hose. I wouldn't bother otherwise.

I recently bought a cheap hose from Bunnings and it was kinked from being coiled in its packaging. Even though I laid it out flat in the sun as instructed, and in fact always keep it stretched out on the grass rather than coiling it, the kink is permanent and cuts the water off because it twists as I pull it along the grass to water plants.

Another hose I bought a few years ago cost about double the price of this one, although it was shorter. Never had any kinks in it at all, as the plastic is really rigid. Can't remember the brand, but general rule seems to be that you do get what you pay for--probably more so as the hose length increases. This dearer hose was advertised as being a no-drip type (ie because the fittings would stop water leaking out) but I'd advise against getting non-standard fittings because they won't work on your other taps (which have standard fittings). So my advice is to go for a more expensive (made in Aust. if poss.) hose with standard fittings.

I have bought a lot of those expensive hoses over the years, now the best one was a Nylex Triple something with the three yellow stripes on it. Bought it in 85 when we moved into a new house in Melbourne so it has been out in the frost for 9 years then in Townsville left out in the sun 5 years and here in Brissie for 6 years, so sadly after 20 years it was cracking up, so last year we replaced it with the same one, well I thought it was, but this one is no where near as good, the other one was soft when new, this one is very hard and I am not happy with it...

Also bought a longer length hose with a hefty price tag it was a Pope one pale blue colour, its even worse it has the worse kink in it and cuts off the water flow and of course the kink is up closer to the tap I may cut it off and get a joiner one day...while we were building this house 5-6 years ago I bought quite a few of those real cheapies for 7 to 10 dollars ( As our good ones were in storage ) and they work fine even if they are made in China or whatever, I am a real buy in Australia person but sadly our home made hoses are not as good at they used to be....And I never coil my hoses up I just leave them on the ground straight if possible but if not then a U shape...Cheers.MM.

I dont have any advice popi, but Im glad to know Im not the only one who is always argueing with the hose! lol

apart from the annoying kinking, why is it that when youre dragging a hose across the yard it always catches on something when youre only a metre short of where you want to use it? ;)

trancegemini

Hi Popi
I bought one of those coiled hoses, a large one. It is more portable than your average hose, but I had to really work hard at getting used to it and not tangling it up in itself. It was very expensive, and probably not worth it.
I move it from tap to tap though, by coiling it on my arm, rather than using my conventional hose, cause I hate rolling them back up - so maybe it's slightly better, but I'm not convinced.

And if I may take over your post, has anyone used a retractable hose, the ones encased in a box? I'm thinking they may create a more harmonious hose/gardener relationship. Or am I dreaming?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I am still a bit confused however, I guess its trial and error.

I dont think the coily one is for me.

I have seen a really silly one, it is black and has a red stripe down it.....reminds me of a red-bellied black snake, which live near me, in my garden. I think I would give myself a heart attack if I bought that hose. What a silly design !

Maybe if the hose is made out of rubber, instead of some synthetic it could perform better.

Havent tried the boxy hose Aeor, but I am interested to hear about them, thanks for adding your tuppence worth.

Popi

g'day popi,

no such thing as a hose that won't kink well not from me experiences, i found using a 3/4" rubber fabric fire hose the best to date, and after 20+ years it is still going strong. i find that when it is about to kink i get the feeling the hose wants to spin in my hands so i let that happen and get minimum kinks that way.

i have been using the 30 meters of fire hose joined to 20 meters of 3/4 nylex hose, heavy to haul around but wouldn't go back to 1/2" ordinary hose ever.

but get the feel for the hose for when it wants to spin in your hands that will minimise kinks.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

Andrea, a retractable boxed hose is next on my garden wish list. I only intend buying 1 but I water from 5 different taps so will have to carry it from one to the other. It really depends on how heavy they are as to which one I buy. I'll keep you posted. WB

I bought a Pope no-kink hose (quite pricey) and it KINKED!!!! And boy did they dish out the spin when I wrote to complain. At the Gardening Australia show a few years back I bought a retractable hose that hangs on the wall. It pulls out to the desired length and rewinds itself. Never had any problems with it kinking, so rang the manufacturers and bought an extra length of the same hose (imported from Italy!!!) to join on so it reaches the full length of my garden. It gets the very odd kink, possibly because I just coil it up and it's not on its magic retractor thingummy, but it's really pretty good.

Instead of coiling up your hose normally try doing it as a series of figures of eight. This has the effect of putting in a twist one way and then removes it on the second half as it were. When you pull the hose out to use it you should finish up with no twists. And don't lose your temper and give it a yank, you may form a permanent kink by damaging the hose walls.
You can make the 'figures of eight' fairly big then pull the outside of each set of half coils up and the bundle will then be similar in size to a normal coiled up hose. All a bit hard to explain but try it.
Also the thicker the hose wall the more resistant to kinking it will be (if you are lucky!)

Many nurseries coil their hoses in a figure of 8. We coil ours this way and don't usually have a problem. Makes it much easier to pull out.

I bought a good hose from Bunnings, it's a Nylex one, very supple and green in colour, sorry I don't know if it had a name, it was one of, if not the most expensive ones they had but it is excellent. I have had mine for about 4 years now.

Has any bought one of the non kinking retractable hoses that have been advertsied on GO (99)? I cant remember the name but I am keen to know if they are as good as the advertisers claim. If anyone knows the name please let me know.