Garden hose for boat

[Iggy]

Another stupid question.

Almost every 2 years I would have to buy a new rubber/vinyl hose for washing the boat or adding water. The hoses would break down from the UV and leave marks. The hose, other than that was good.


I tried the expendable ones, but the cloth breaks too after one year. I was thinking of a stainless ones but I don't want to scratch my boat.

Has any one found a good hose?

[rslifkin]

Do you leave the hoses out on the dock when not in use? Constant sunlight kills most types of them pretty quickly. Once we got in the habit of draining the hose, coiling it, and stowing it aboard the boat after every use they started lasting much, much longer.

[Iggy]

yep, I leave it out. I use almost every weekend and maybe on week days. Adding water, washing the boat and the dock from the seagulls.

[rslifkin]

Even using it at least once a week we found it worthwhile to bring the hose aboard. Draining it in the process does a great job of preventing it from growing slime and such between uses as well.

[jleonard]

I had (and still use it at the house) a lifetime guaranteed hose from HD. It stayed coiled up on a hose hanger at the marina for about 6 years and still worked when we replaced it with a longer (75ft) hose. Didn't really mark up the boat.
It's been hanging outside of our house in Florida 24/7 since 2016 and still looks good and doesn't leak.

I don't remember the brand, maybe they don't sell them anymore, but it wasn't the cheapest they sold.

[danderer]

I find the expandable ones well worth the money even if I have to replace them yearly (typically I don't).

For me they are so much easier to handle and store than traditional designs.

[Cigatoo]

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zero...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Bacchus]

Originally Posted by danderer

I find the expandable ones well worth the money even if I have to replace them yearly (typically I don't).

For me they are so much easier to handle and store than traditional designs.

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zero...hrome&ie=UTF-8

Ive blown a couple of the expandable ones and switched to Zero G on boat, at home & on motorhome. Been very satisfied and no issues to date ~5 yrs.
I'm not a fan of their alum fittings but in most places I've used good quality brass (True Value- forget the brand?) Quick connect fittings assembled w/ Teflon tape so no/little corrosion.
ZeroG so light & convenient coiling & storing aboard or in dock box is EZ.
I have used 2 roll up reels at home (75 and 100 ft) and very EZ deploy and retrieve.

[Comodave]

I have a Zero G on our boat and like it.

[Shrew]

Is this a white marine hose like you'd find in a marine chandlery? Or is this a cheap green hose that you'd find in a box store? I don't have this issue with white hoses.

[O C Diver]

I buy the white marine / RV hose from Walmart.



6 years and counting, but mine gets drained, coiled, and put back in the boat when done.

Ted

[tiltrider1]

For 40 years everyone used Goodyear Industrial Rubber air hoses and then almost over night switched to Flexzilla Industrial Polymer air hoses. After having such good luck with the air hoses I decided to try a water house. My hose sits pressurized and outside 24/7/365. My experiment is only 2 years old so it is too soon to make any recommendations. So far the hose remains flexible, dose not kink and No degrading of the material. There has been some fade in the color. While I have gotten 10 years out of industrial grade garden hoses, they get sticky after about year five.

Neither flexzilla nor industrial grade water hoses are cheap. Industrial grade water hoses are to heavy and stiff to store on a boat but the Flexzilla is light and easy to store.

It is a different animal than a Zero G. I am talking about a more permanent system. While cruising it’s pretty hard to beat a zero G.

[Mischief Managed]

Originally Posted by Cigatoo

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zero...hrome&ie=UTF-8

I bought a few of those and had had to cut them off the spigots at the end of one season. The end fittings are nice, but they don't play well with other metals if you leave them on there a season in a marine environment. I still use one at my slip because the marina lets me leave it on the spigot all year. When that hose fails, I'll be carefully splitting the female end to remove it from the spigot. Sadly, I could not find a plastic replacement end fitting that fits a zero G hose material. The boating world needs a high-quality expanding hose with high quality plastic end fittings. In the meantime, the best fix, IMO, is to add a foot of homemade hose with a plastic fittings between the fancy hose and the spigot.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Mischief Managed

I bought a few of those and had had to cut them off the spigots at the end of one season. The end fittings are nice, but they don't play well with other metals if you leave them on there a season in a marine environment. I still use one at my slip because the marina lets me leave it on the spigot all year. When that hose fails, I'll be carefully splitting the female end to remove it from the spigot. Sadly, I could not find a plastic replacement end fitting that fits a zero G hose material. The boating world needs a high-quality expanding hose with high quality plastic end fittings. In the meantime, the best fix, IMO, is to add a foot of homemade hose with a plastic fittings between the fancy hose and the spigot.

Yep, other post said the same thing.

A great idea adding a small hose!

[ranger58sb]

I dunno what brand our home-slip dockwash hose is or where I got it, but it's heavy green rubber... and I've been using it for about 15 years, always out in all weather during our seasons, no issues.

-Chris

[backinblue]

I carry an expandable hose on the boat while cruising because it takes up such little space. Specifically, I bought this one. Connectors are high quality and the on/off valve is very convenient. Stows nicely in the included bag.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used to buy the white marine hoses, but they didn't hold up well and are very unflexible. I' am now using the following one and I love it. I leave it coiled on the dock hanger. Safe for drinking water, inexpensive, very flexible, and looks durable, although I've only had it a few seasons.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Lollygag1]

Going into my 4th season with a Zero G. Leave it outside all season, have had no issues.

[ssobol]

You might want to try one of these: https://snowjoe.com/products/aqua-jo...n-hose-50-foot

It is not an expandable hose (in that it gets longer) but it does get pretty flat when there is no water in it. It has a fiber jacket (probably nylon) so it won't leave marks.

[catalinajack]

No one ever died from drinking water from a dirt house garden hose. INHO this concern is just more boaters' paranoia.

[Iggy]

I bought the Zero-G from Defender at a great price. I did need other stuff so shipping was no big deal.

It seams like a good hose and I had enough parts laying around that I made up a small hose. You look around the docks and you can see hoses cut at the valve.

Thanks everyone.