In article , Richard Cline
wrote:

In article ,
Hal wrote:

I have a 3/4" rubber hose that I have been using for 22 years (I got is
used). It still is in good shape. The hose doesn't kink. It is a
little heavy but I do not find that objectionable. I am 70 years old.

Dick

Those life-time garden hoses are getting harder & harder to find because
not standard stock anywhere but Sears. The majority of hose manufacturers
make either cheap vinyl hoses or "premium" vinyl hoses with radial
reinforcement; neither type of hose is worth diddly-squat. Hoses labeled
"heavy duty" aren't. An alleged high-end hose in a manufacturer's line has
metal ends rather than breakable hard-plastic & otherwise it can turn out
to be the same cheap vinyl hose. Teknor sells a composite hose that is so
stiff as to be almost useless in the garden. They advertise it as the
state of the art for non-kink hoses, but they guarantee it only ten years
-- ten painful years of trying to get it to bend around corners.

The real deal is made of a high-grade rubber rather. In just about any
department store big or small you can usually find short pieces of it sold
as "hot water" hoses or the like, but practical lengths for the garden are
missing. Sears Craftsman makes an all-rubber hose which is the only one
widely available (Craftman also makes vinyl hoses so the brand doesn't
guarantee the best). It's been years since I've seen an all-rubber hose
offered elsewhere but Sears, some companies just stopped making them. Yet
they will put packaging on the hoses with phrase like "all rubber vinyl
hose" to fool folks -- sounds like "all-natural artificial flavors."

Some gardening articles recommend checking the DPI on the hose to assess
its worth, but the vast majority of hoses don't state anywhere on the hose
or the packaging what the DPI might be, & if you ask the average customer
service guy or gal for the DPI info on the hoses they sell, they'll think
you're talking in Hungarian or Chinese.

Most people are looking for the short-term bargain, so most stores won't
waste shelf space with the best products, which would have to be priced
higher than all the surrounding products so would be slow to sell. Stores
don't want to stock the high-end item for the one customer in a thousand;
they want to sell lots of product fast, & that means focus on cropola. My
search for a quality sprayer turned into a Knight's Quest. I finally got
one from Italy -- quality metal cannister sprayers are no longer
manufactured anywhere in the United States, & none even have metal
connecting parts, not even the Craftsman which is the least awful but not
nearly good enough. If I had my grampa's sprayer I bet that'd still be
working fine.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
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