Which Garden Hose Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 18 garden hose options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Apex
Price shown in test: $25
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Weight | Water flow rate (5 gal bucket fill) | Kink test (5 loops) | Drag force (50 ft, full of water) | Hose reel ease | Burst pressure | Hose end durability (driven over) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Apex$25 | 8.2 lb | 59 seconds | straightened out without kinking | 11.2 lb | pretty stiff, needs some assistance | claimed high burst strength; ruptured at around 680 PSI | both hose ends destroyed |
| 2Gilmour$30 | 7.4 lb | 60 seconds | straightened out without kinking | 8.9 lb | even stiffer than Apex, less cooperative | leaked at the end cap early, then blew out at around 1000 PSI | brass hose ends crushed |
| 3GUKOK$35 | 2.69 lb | 1 minute 15 seconds | no kink | 6.2 lb | lays flat but coils unevenly, wraps over itself | blew out at around 930 PSI | only 1 of 2 brass hose ends survived |
| 4SPECILITE$36 | 7.28 lb | 60 seconds | 1 kink | 8.7 lb | much softer than Apex/Gilmour, easier to work with | advertised 600 PSI; broke at 920 PSI | brass ends, female connector badly damaged |
| 5Swan$38 | 6.68 lb | 1 minute 1 second | no kink | 9.5 lb | similar to Apex, not as easy as Specialite | rated 400 PSI; performed better than advertised at 860 PSI | aluminum ends, both survived without damage |
| 6Aqua Joe$40 | 7.31 lb | 58 seconds (3-way tie for first with Yamatic and DeWalt) | final tally 1 kink; narration initially described 4 apparent kink points of which 3 unwound as the hose extended | 8.5 lb, least force among the regular rubber hoses | softer rubber, easier than Swan | rated around 500 PSI; performed better at around 900 PSI | aluminum ends, both survived without damage |
| 7Yamatic$40 | 7.51 lb | 58 seconds (3-way tie for first with Aqua Joe and DeWalt) | 4 kinks | 9.1 lb | pretty easy to reel up, like Aqua Joe | rated 500 PSI; performed at 950 PSI | brass ends, female end damaged |
| 8Flexzilla$40 | 6.67 lb | 1 minute | 4 kinks | 9.4 lb | extremely cooperative, best of the group per narration | no burst rating found advertised; popped at around 900 PSI | anodized aluminum ends, female end damaged |
| 9Velybrin$40 | 3.55 lb | 1 minute 33 seconds, slowest of the regular/non-expanding hoses at that point in the video | 3 kinks | 4.4 lb, best (lightest force) recorded up to that point | very easy to work with, like Flexzilla | by far the best yet at around 1920 PSI, ultimately the top burst-pressure result of the whole video | male ends survived, female end badly bent |
| 10Zero G$43 | 4.39 lb | 66 seconds | no kinks | 5.1 lb | lays flat but coils unevenly, like GUKOK | no rating found advertised; performed at around 1100 PSI | very durable, no damage |
| 11Craftsman$44 | 7.44 lb | 59 seconds | 3 kinks | 8.3 lb | soft hose, performs better than most | rated 500 PSI; performed at around 870 PSI | titanium-coated aluminum ends, female end badly bent |
| 12Giraffe Tools$45 | 6.25 lb | about 1 minute | 2 kinks | 7.6 lb | close to Craftsman, easy to work with | rated 600 PSI; performed at around 800 PSI | both ends fine, no visible damage |
| 13RAINPOINT Rubber Hose$50 | just over 7 lb | 59 seconds | 4 kinks | 8.7 lb | pretty cooperative on the reel | rated 600 PSI; performed at around 960 PSI | plastic-encased ends, both survived |
| 14DeWalt$50 | 7.46 lb | 58 seconds (3-way tie for first with Aqua Joe and Yamatic) | 5 kinks, the most of any hose tested | 8.6 lb | very soft, kinks easily but easy to work with on the reel | rated 500 PSI; performed at around 780 PSI | both ends survived without damage |
| 15Continental$50 | 11.65 lb, by far the heaviest hose tested | 59 seconds | no kinks | 13 lb, by far the most force of any hose tested | heavy but that did not hurt reel performance | no rating found advertised; performed at 840 PSI | brass ends, female end badly bent |
| 16Flexi Hose$57 | 2.2 lb | 1 minute 25 seconds; noted as possibly insufficient flow for a sprinkler | no kink | 4.3 lb, best (lightest) among the expanding hoses | performs very well | no rating found advertised; hose end detached at around 1650 PSI | female end destroyed during the water pressure test, male end survived |
| 17RAINPOINT Lightweight (non-expanding)$60 | 6.17 lb | 1 minute 26 seconds | 1 kink, a little better than average | 6.2 lb | reels up easily, similar to Flexzilla | rated 750 PSI; performed at 1890 PSI, second-best burst pressure of the video | female end survived |
| 18Copper Head Pocket Hose$70 | 2.34 lb | 1 minute 33 seconds, tied for slowest | no kink | 4.5 lb, third-best of the video | reels up easily | rated 650 PSI; performed at 1800 PSI, third-best burst pressure of the video | heavy duty female end survived; male end detached during a separate test |
How it was tested
- water flow rate (time to fill a 5 gallon bucket)
- kink resistance (5 loops added per hose)
- drag force to pull a full 50 ft hose across grass (force meter)
- hose reel ease (subjective rating)
- burst pressure (pressurized with a comedic Cousin Eddie/Cousinetti bit until failure)
- hose end durability (driven over by a truck)
- hose repair kit demonstration (Apex only, one-off, not run across all brands)
“If you're looking for a regular rubber hose and it's all about affordability, I really like the Apex.”
Data notes and caveats
18-hose showdown that ends in per-use-case picks rather than a single winner: Apex for affordability among regular rubber hoses, Flexzilla if aluminum hose ends are acceptable, Zero G as the top non-expanding hose ('earned Ace in every category'). winner/runnerUp set to null accordingly per the per-use-case-favorites rule. Several brand names required resolution against the description's Products Tested list due to heavy caption garbling: Gilmore to Gilmour, Goocock/Gookcock to GUKOK, Yumatic/Umatic to Yamatic, Flexilla to Flexzilla, Velin/Velly Brin/Veligin to Velybrin (all treated as one product by matching price/spec/testing order), and Draft Tools to Giraffe Tools. Two separate RAINPOINT products appear in this video (a regular rubber hose at $50 and a non-expanding lightweight hose at $60) and are kept as distinct product entries. The video also shows a raw-score to A-through-F rating chart on screen that is referenced but not read aloud in full, so only narrated results are captured here.