"MiamiCuse" wrote:
I have two of the home depot variety "kink free" garden hoses. They are
far from kink free, in fact they kink all the time when you stretch them
out. When you roll them back up you have to keep flipping the hose the
right way so it won't kink.

All brand new hose is prone to kinking. Hose needs to be broken in, so that
it loses it's factory "memory" (from being tightly wound in its sale mode),
with use it will become softer and more flexible (lower quality hose may
never become soft and flexible, and in fact over time tends to harden). And
when you say "roll them back up" do you mean on the ground or on a hose
reel? Winding hose on the grond automatically causes hose to twist, whech
will caue it to kink in use. It's best to use a hose reel, and still there
is a proper way to wind hose on a reel.

However, I have a very old hose probably more than 15 years I found in
this garage and it never kinks. It does not kink because it does not
flatten not even a little bit. I think it's made of rubber. Are those
better hoses than the modern day vinyl hoses?

Rubber hoses are not better, they're different... they're more abrasion
resistant and can better withstand being constantly driven over... but they
are less flexible and are much heavier to drag around than vinyl hose. Were
I going to be using a hose mostly over a paved area and/or where there are
sharp protruding objects like inside a factory building, and over
reletively short distances I'd choose rubber... for garden and lawn areas
I'd choose vinyl. Generally for home use vinyl hose is a better choice.
For commercial use rubber hose is generally a better choice; rubber hose
costs more but can withstand the rigors of hard use and abuse much better
than vinyl.