The Best Garden Hose and Hose Reel

A lot of the hoses we&#;ve used, tested, and recommended over the years work great for a year or two but then start to kink easily or otherwise degrade.

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It isn&#;t perfectly kink-proof, but its sturdiness and dependable performance go far beyond those of the twisted, knotted, worthless garbage hoses that probably inspired you to search for something better.

The Hoselink hose pulls out easily and retracts on its own, making it a great choice for those who need the length but want minimal hassle.

The Gorilla GRS-175H is easy to reel and roll around the yard. It comfortably holds 150- feet of rubber hose and is far better, in every way, than any inexpensive reel we&#;ve tried.

The Dramm hose has a lot of the high points of the Continental hose, but it typically costs more, and it kinked more easily in our tests.

This tough rubber hose isn&#;t cheap and can be heavy to wrangle, but its strong fittings and durable body should last for years&#;and it has a lifetime warranty, just in case.

The Continental Commercial Grade Rubber Hose (50 feet) is far from being the cheapest hose you&#;ll ever find, but after testing the bargain models and the midrange options, we&#;re convinced that the best value in a garden hose is the one you can buy once and use indefinitely. Although the lifetime warranty is reassuring, we&#;re confident (after doing our own tests and reading customer anecdotes about long-term use) that you may never need to take Continental up on it. Durable and versatile, this hose is perfect for all kinds of utility work (even though it can be a bit of a beast if you&#;re just quickly watering a small patio garden). Availability shouldn&#;t be an issue, as the Continental hose now has nearly ubiquitous availability at home centers and hardware stores.

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We also like the Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose (50 feet). It offers many of the same features as the Continental and some that the other hose doesn&#;t have&#;like nickel-plated brass couplings&#;but it typically costs more, and in our tests it kinked more easily and held a memory of the kinks (once it kinked, it was prone to kink in the same spot again). We like that it comes in a variety of colors, but that&#;s not enough to offset the kinking issue or the high price. The Dramm was our previous top pick in this guide, but its increasing costs, coupled with the results of our long-term testing, have led us to see the Continental as the better option.

The Eley 5/8-inch Polyurethane Garden Hose was a revelation to us. It&#;s the best hose we&#;ve ever handled, and after using it for a while, we came to see all other hoses, including our other picks, as cumbersome, primitive, and dysfunctional. Compared with quality rubber hoses like the Continental and the Dramm, the Eley is lighter (much lighter), easier to loop, and more durable, and it seems immune to any kind of folding or kinking. The brass fittings at the ends are large and easy to tighten by hand or wrench, and it comes with a 10-year warranty (twice as long as the coverage that Eley offered on its discontinued rubber hose). With all of these high points, this Eley hose doesn&#;t come cheap&#;costing roughly $110 for a 50-foot length, it&#;s certainly an investment. But if you have trouble hefting a heavier hose or if you just want to simplify and eliminate as many of the daily micro-frustrations of a garden hose, this Eley hose is very much worth considering. It&#;s available in a variety of sizes, and Eley can even make custom lengths.

The HoseCoil &#;-inch Self Coiling Garden Hose (25 feet) is neither as tough nor as long as our other picks, but for a small patio, balcony, or yard&#;where dragging around a big 50-footer feels like overkill&#;it&#;s a fine alternative. The HoseCoil&#;s main selling point is its retractable corkscrew design, which works as advertised in making the hose easy to extend, recoil, and store. Compared with our bigger picks, this 0.375-inch-diameter hose loses a quarter-inch of capacity, which translated to slightly lower water pressure in our side-by-side trials. Although the HoseCoil&#;s total length is 25 feet, in practice it&#;s really good for only about 17 feet before it starts to strain. As with our heavier-duty picks, the HoseCoil&#;s nozzle end has flat facets for a wrench to grab. Its two-year warranty is reassuring, too; though we&#;ve heard of some HoseCoils lasting longer, hitting the two-year mark is about what we&#;d expect. We have a test unit that has been doing fine after several years of intermittent use and daily Southern California sun exposure.

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In our experience, we&#;ve found that inexpensive hose reels have been riddled with so many frustrations&#;poor quality, iffy stability, small wheels&#;that they&#;re just not worth the hassle. The Gorilla GRS-175H 175 ft. Mobile Hose Reel is more of an investment, but it&#;s a hose reel that does everything right. The aluminum build is durable, the reel spins with little friction, it&#;s easy to move around a yard, and two of its feet have extended pads where you can place a foot for added stability as you wind a hose in. It comfortably holds 150 feet of hose, which should be more than enough for most lawns. The Gorilla reel doesn&#;t offer much pizzazz, but its functionality is impressive.

Everything that is good about the Gorilla reel is better on the Eley Portable Garden Hose Reel Cart (or if you prefer a wall-mounted version, the Eley Wall Mounted Garden Hose Reel). The build quality is exceptional, the strong metal frame provides unmatched stability, the giant tires easily bounce over an uneven lawn, the handles are comfortable and well placed, and the reel itself pulls in a hose with minimal effort. It&#;s an expensive hose reel, but the components are heavy-duty, and it&#;s an item that we expect would last a lifetime with proper care. The Gorilla reel is a great choice, but the Eley reel takes everything to the next level. In the world of hose reels, Eley models have a stellar reputation, and after testing one, we fully understand why.

The Hoselink 82ft Retractable Hose Reel offers a simple way to manage a lot of hose with minimal effort. It&#;s 82 feet of hose on an enclosed reel that pulls out easily and retracts on its own after a slight tug, like a window blind. A guide roller at the reel moves back and forth as the hose retracts, guaranteeing that the hose spools on evenly, not all in one lump. The set comes with 6.5 feet of leader hose, and a quick-connect system on both the leader hose and the main hose makes attaching and detaching the connections easy. The quick-connect piece at the end of the main hose even has its own shutoff, further simplifying a nozzle swap; this quick-connect piece also freely rotates, so you can shift the spray nozzle around without twisting the hose. Because you can mount the Hoselink reel at any height, it eliminates any bending over or back strain associated with knee-level reels or hose spigots. We were skeptical of the Hoselink reel at first, but after having used it daily for a month, we&#;ve found that it&#;s an efficient way to keep a hose off the lawn. So far the only downside we&#;ve seen is that the hose is only 0.5 inch in diameter&#;not 0.625 inch like the others&#;so jobs like filling buckets take longer.

Garden Hose Materials, Flexibility & Durability

Hoses are usually made from vinyl, rubber or a combination of the two. Garden hoses are constructed in layers, or ply. The more ply the hose has, the more durable it is. Some hoses have metal coils or cords between the layers of rubber or vinyl to help keep the hose from kinking. Which garden hose material you choose will depend on your budget, flexibility needs and climate.

• Vinyl hoses are the most budget-friendly choice. These hoses are best for mild climates and lighter watering tasks. Vinyl hoses aren&#;t as durable as rubber hoses.
• A rubber garden hose requires the most upfront investment. They&#;re tougher, more flexible and heavier than vinyl hoses. Overall, rubber hoses are more durable.
• Combo hoses have rubber&#;s durability combined with vinyl&#;s light weight. They may have more ply or an outer mesh layer to protect against snags and punctures. Combo hoses are sometimes reinforced with nylon and rayon. This gives these hoses a different level of flexibility.

Aim for a garden hose that&#;s flexible enough for easy storage and going around corners. However, if the water hose is too flexible that it kinks easily. 

• A reinforced rubber garden hose works well for home use.
• Stiffer hoses are less likely to kink while in use, but they can be heavy and cumbersome.
• Flexible hoses are easy to move around the garden, but they&#;re more likely to kink.

A hose's durability is determined by its category. Hoses are categorized ad light duty, standard or medium duty, heavy duty or super duty. 

• Light-duty hoses aren&#;t as durable, but they&#;re easier to wind up and store than stronger duty hoses. They work well in small gardens.
• Standard hoses are good for most residential lawn and landscape needs. Take care of general gardening work with a medium-duty hose.
• Heavy-duty hoses have thick walls and are very sturdy. You can leave them outside and exposed to the elements without risking damage.
• The heavier duty the hose is, the more water pressure it can handle. Use heavy-duty hoses for pressure washer tasks.

Tip: When shopping for a hose, use the &#;U&#; test. Bend the hose into a &#;U&#; shape. If it kinks, choose another. 

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Flexible Rubber Hose. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.