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If you’re like me, you’ve wasted alot of time trying to wind up and put away your garden hose after watering your garden or washing your car. I know that it has taxed my patience to the level that I avoid doing those things just so I don’t need to deal with the hose afterwards. I finally decided to look on Amazon for an expandable water hose.
Yes, I knew about the reputation that expandable hoses would leak but I was willing to take the risk. I found a hose by Aterod on Amazon. It had great reviews with a 4.3 rating, and with over 7,000 reviews, I thought that was a pretty good sample size. It was pretty inexpensive so I thought it would be a good risk investment even if it had problems.
I received the hose the next day. It looked like it was well made. The fabric on the outside of the hose looked strong enough, and there was a brass connector to thread the nozzle onto. It seemed like a bonus that the hose also came with a really well made nozzle. As I carried the hose to the yard, it was clearly much lighter than my regular hose. Hopefully, the reduced weight didn’t affect how strong the hose was.
As I attached the hose to my faucet, the first thing I thought was that the hose was too short to be 75 feet. When I turned the water on, it made sense. The hose started to expand out when I applied the water pressure. At full length, it was 75 feet. Without the water, the hose length is 25 feet and it expands out 3x when you turn on your faucet. After I finished testing out the hose, it took me less than a minute to gather it up and put it in its storage pot. What a difference!
Hose shrinks down to 25 feet when water is off
Aterod hose expands to 75 feet when water pressure is applied
The nozzle that comes with the hose has 9 settings. Although I have used all of the settings, I have used a few of them more than others.
Twist the yellow part of the nozzle to change settings
The shower setting provides a gentle spray that is perfect for delicate plants that you might be watering. It’s great for plants that don’t mind getting their leaves wet.
Shower setting for spraying tender plants and leaves
The jet setting gives you a focused, strong stream that can reach the furthest distance. This will likely be your car wash setting as it provides a strong stream of water that can knock of dirt on your car, or to wash mud off of your side walk.
The jet setting is perfect for washing your car or spraying down your sidewalk
Finally, the “full” setting flows out water in a “fountain like” stream. It’s similar to what you would get if you were simply pouring water from a watering pot. I use this setting the most in order to water my plants in the ground or in pots. I can direct the stream to the ground and away from the leaves for plants such as roses.
I use the full setting for watering potted plants.
I bought my first hose in June of last year so I’ve had it for over a year and I haven’t had any problems with it. People who come by the house have been so impressed with it that we have bought 3 more of these hoses for family members. So far, none of us have had a problem with this product.
I believe the people who have written reviews that say that the hose has cracked or leaked. We just haven’t seen it, and neither have the other people who have rated it as a 5 star product. We are careful with a few things with the hose, and perhaps that’s why we’ve had such good luck with it. First, we don’t keep pressure on the hose when it’s not in use. After each time we use it, we shut off the faucet and drain the hose out. We are also careful not to tug on the hose if it is caught on something. It’s usually easiest if we stretch it out while the faucet is off, then when the faucet is turned on, the hose isn’t tangled. These all seem like reasonable steps to take to make sure that the hose stays in good shape. Putting the hose away is quick and simple and has already saved me hours of frustration. Just gather up the hose, and place it into the storage pot.
Much simpler than attempting to wind up a normal 75 foot hose.
One final note… Aterod also sells a 50 foot version of the same hose for about $10 less. We initially bought one of those for our back yard. In the end, we exchanged it for a 75 foot Aterod hose instead. Since the “empty” state of the 75 foot hose is only 25 feet, it made more sense to just use the longer hose. It is no harder to manage than the 50 foot version and gives you an extended reach.