Expandable Garden Hose - 20M product reviews

When we first received this hose the kids were excited for me to set it up straight away so I got to it and removed the old hose and attached this hose to the fittings. My eldest boy dragged it out flat across the lawn and ran back to open the water supply valve and the kids were in awe as the hose spurt to life then writhed like a snake and slowly coiled and moved about finally coming to a stop when the hose had filled its capacity with water. I shut the supply valve and told my son to hold the trigger on the nozzle gun to let the water drain out and they were surprised to see the hose wriggle about again while the water was running out.

This hose is twenty metres in length when fully expanded and is made of Polyester and latex with brass connections on either end of the hose. I went to place the hose underneath our trampoline with the sprinkler attached as the kids love bouncing on the trampoline when water jets are spraying up through the mat but found the hose couldn't quite reach to the position because in its unexpanded state the hose only lays around eight metres and then if you try to pull it further it springs back under its elasticity to its resting position. So to get it into position I had to turn the water on with the sprinkler running to expand the hose to length then shut the water off quickly so not to get wet put the sprinkler into position and turn the water back on again fast enough so it didn't drain out enough water to start retracting to its resting position. This problem could be easily fixed however by having another flow control valve on the tail end of the hose, a sprinkler that could be set via a timer or stretching the hose out to position then pegging down the sprinkler.

The hose is easy to keep tidy as I found when storing away I wrapped the hose around the holder while it still had water pressure through it and then drained the water out which caused the hose to deflate and coil itself around the holder. The hose is very compact as it shrinks more than twice it's expanded length plus Its tangle free and comes in either black or green and is very lightweight compared to the standard plastic hoses so If you're looking for a hose that is light, strong, easy to store away and tidy then this is the hose for you.

Over Summer I was trying vainly to grow a garden. My 'Black Thumb" is still as strong as ever it seems, but it was worth a try at least. For that, I needed to water it a lot... and so it was with great delight I got this hose to review because when I started to unroll my old one, it literally broke into sections - it was that brittle and damaged by having water frozen in it repeatedly over Winter.

Having never experienced an expanding hose before, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to deal with it, but still... I dived in with true male style for disregarding reading of manuals. I was impressed first off by the brass fittings. Used to crappy cheap plastic ones that broke almost weekly, these are sturdy and held securely. It comes with fittings for the tap so you know it's got a secure hold right from the outlet all the way to the end... disregarding whatever you plug into it.

I thought that if I started the hose off with the end open, it wouldn't expand, but it does. No idea what exactly that signifies - that when contracted it has a reduced flow so has to expand to give the water free access, or whether my water pressure outside the house is far greater than I get inside... which is equally likely with the plumbing on my house. Either way, the hose started to writhe and move as though alive - something my cat found fascinating to watch... from the safety of the patio railing. So I took a video of the hose moving and posted it to the Kr FB page, in case you were wanting to see what I mean. Would be great for fooling the kids!

Storing the hose while it is still full of water can be risky if you don't take into account the amount of shrinkage. You can see from the photo linked here the difference between "full of water" and "empty" when it's coiled up. If you don't give it plenty of room to contract and still hang loose, you will find the hose loses its springiness and elasticity. After that, you just have... a hose. So, not the end of the world, but it will causes the materials to break down faster over time. If you make your coils so they just drag on the ground, then let all the water escape, you'll have a happy hose when it's empty.

I have now used the hose almost daily for the last month, and it is still giving me excellent performance. I will be very interested to see how it copes over Winter when water will freeze inside it... even though most of the water has been squirted out by the hose contracting, there's still water in there. That will be the true test!

Overall, an excellent hose at a fair price. There are similar hoses out there at cheaper prices, but having looked at them in stores and comparing the feel of them and the materials, I would be happier with this unit knowing that it will definitely do the job it promises. In fact, I may look at buying a second one so I don't have to move it from one side of the house to the other when I need to wash the car.