North Coast Gardening

The Tuff-Guard Hose is Lightweight and Doesn’t Kink

One of my most dreaded tasks is when clients have a hose that hasn’t been rolled up properly, so it’s bent and folded and won’t go back into place. Being the responsible horticultural professional I am, if I touch something, I have to leave it perfect. However, rolling up a heavy, kinked hose is a recipe for profuse “dammits”.

And a kinked hose happens to the best of us! I have invested in Gilmour Flexogen hoses for years, thinking them the best anti-kink hose, and they are pretty good if you roll them up religiously after every use. But over the years I’ve forgotten once or twice, and I now have a persistent kink which vexes me every time I water. Ugh!

So when Tuff-Guard offered to send me one of their kink-free hoses, I was so on it. Their website shows photos of these hoses all tortured into knots yet still unkinked. When I got it I saw why – this thing is downright bouncy! It’s got a springy feel to it and an outer spiraled wrap which keeps it from forming a “memory”.

Of course, I took the “no-kink” claim as a challenge and immediately took it upon myself to try to mess my new hose up. I stood on it, jumped on it, tied it into knots, and tried every way I could think of to kink it, to no avail. When they say it is kink-free, they mean it.

colors

But the other thing I love about this hose is how lightweight it is! You don’t realize how heavy a hose is until you’re trying to carry a big coil of it to the far end of the garden, or you’re pulling on it to wrap it up again. But this one is easily the lightest hose I have ever felt by a large margin. I bent down to pick it up the proper way so that I wouldn’t hurt my back, and immediately felt silly as it weighed nothing. Yet the materials seem so well-engineered that I have faith it’s going to last. It’s made in the USA, after all.

Of course if you buy the Tuff-Guard hose, you may wish to invest in a hose reel. It’s so delightfully springy and lightweight that it zooms into a hose reel with little effort, and I put mine into a hose pot in about five seconds – it just wanted to cooperate with me. But the springy nature of it means that it sits much tidier in some kind of hose holder than on its own.

Genevieve

83 responses to “The Tuff-Guard Hose is Lightweight and Doesn’t Kink”

  2. Kink free? Fantastic! I could sure use one of those around all the corners in my allotment plot. I think I’d like the red one!

  4. Yes, I, too, have spewed many swear words at hoses. I just got to get one of these hoses — in gray, please.

  5. Blue, to match all those forgetmenots out there right now. Unkinkable hose? Unthinkable!

  6. I think I’d go with the gray. The thought of a lightweight hose that doesn’t kink is heaven.

  7. I have promised myself a new “kink-free” hose this season. I cursed like a sailor every time I had to pull mine out last year. My aesthetic says to go with something that blends into the landscape, but the red one makes my heart sing, and my partner would be less likely to run over it with the lawn mower.

  8. Genevieve, What a great find. I would love one of the Red hoses. It will be so easy to find in the garden and match my beautiful Red Roses (Mr. Lincoln, Oklahoma, Chrysler Imperial & Olympiad) we have growing at the end of our Grapes.
    Happy first day of Spring in the Garden. I will also be @ the San Francisco Garden Show tomorrow. Will you have a booth? I would so like to meet you.

  10. The dark grey one would look great in my cottage garden. I’m not into kinky stuff, so this hose would work great for me! 😉

  11. A lightweight hose that doesn’t kink? I think I’m in love. Now I can send my kids out to drag that hose all over the yard to water the garden. They won’t have any excuses now about the hose being too heavy or that the water won’t come out because of a kink. Grey would be lovely. It’d match the house.

  14. SO COOL!! I was just starting to dread having to buy new hoses this year and I’m all over tortur, er, trying one of these… in RED please!!

  17. I’m planting my first ever garden this year and discovered that the hose I have is a) kinky (such a fun word) and b) not long enough to reach my garden from the closest spigot. Epic fail. I’d LOVE any color, but red looks pretty dang awesome!

  18. Oh please please please, pick me! My garden would love you for it, and so would I. A neutral color would be nice, if possible.

  19. What a cool product! I have a kink in nearly every hose I own and what a pain they are! I no more get it lugged to the point I need it and then it’s kinked and I have to find it before the water will flow…. errrr! For it to be light weight as well is just icing on my cupcake! 🙂

    Personally, with all of the bennies this hose offers I wouldn’t care what color it came in! But just so my husband is less likely to carry it off I choose PINK!

  20. My garden is spreading in opposite directions. A new, red, non-kinky (not as fun when preceeded by ‘non’!) hose would definitely find a home. It could also be put to use for summer sprinkler fun – water wiggler anyone?!

  21. Being a senior citizen gardener, I get so many kinks in my body that I don’t sure don’t need anymore in a hose! An unkinkable hose in gray would be perfection!

  22. Sounds like heaven (I’ve hauled too many 50 foot hoses around doing hand watering). Only question is if it stays leak free long term.

  23. Unkinkable & light weight….how wonderful would that be! Red would be great because when my father-in-law is on his riding mower he mows more than grass! Also red is such a nice contrast against all the green here on Maui.

  24. Ohmigawd, this is pretty much my dream come true. I am a hose slayer, I seriously seem to return a hose every five months. That blue one is now dancing in my dreams….

  25. Green is the color of the Tough-Guard Hose that will
    -water the earth,
    -that will sprout the seeds,
    -that will develop the blades,
    -that will carpet the yard,
    -with the beautiful grass,
    -that will cover. . .
    the really ugly yard left after last year’s replacement of the septic system. . .

    (PS – This is the best gardening site ever!)

  27. I have quite a few containers on my patio that I always hand water. This hose sounds like the perfect solution for the tangled two-step I regularly find myself engaged in. So many colors, and I can only choose one? My little neighbor, when asked her favorite color last summer, replied “Rainbow!” I suppose I would be least likely to stumble over a red one. :^)

  28. Is that one pink? I want an pink hose! I just got a new hose for the garden, but I’d move it to the back and use the pretty pink one in my front yard garden.

  29. Kinky hoses are the bane of my existence. Even when they are new I can’t get them to roll up in the hose pot. So annoying! A kink-free one in pink would be the bomb!

  32. I bought a supposedly kink-free hose last summer and it’s the worst piece of crap. Why did I fall for that? Gray, white or green. Thanks!

  33. Ooooh Kink-free Hose. I’d love the pink one, but my hubby would balk so I guess I should choose the blue… LOL

  35. I still have nightmares about when my dad used to have me drain the hoses over the swing set before coiling and tapping them into loops for the winter. I bet that blue hose would cure me of my night terrors, though.

  37. Imagine my surprise to see a 50′ hose being given away to a lucky recipient. And this after I’d measured my yard from spigot to fence yesterday & determined I needed a 50′ hose. Kismet! If I’m the chosen one, I’d appreciate it in grey. Thanks!

  38. Kink free hose? Seeing is believing. A light weight green hose would certainly be a boon to my arthritic hands.

  40. Awesome giveaway! I’d like the beige or the pink, as either would coordinate with the trim on our Victorian monster! Thanks for the offer!

  41. Wow–this sounds like a dream–and the off-white looks pretty to me! Thanks for the giveaway!

  42. I’ve been using the plastic bin method for my vermicompost for ages. I would love to upgrade to The Worm Factory.

    And I’d love to have a blue hose 😉

  44. Always looking for a way to save my back…fighting with a hose is the worst way to finish a day of gardening. I’d love to try gray to blend in with cedar siding.

    Thanks!

  45. I have so many supposed kink-free hoses, that kind immediately… I am so glad to hear of one that actually doesn’t! Woot! I’d love red, if I win. If not, I’m tracking them down! Thanks!

  46. Gotta go with GREEN. And if I like mine as much as you like yours, it seems worth buying some as Christmas gifts for family. Can hardly wait to try it out.

  47. I can’t even express how much we would like a nice new hose. We made-do with one until last year I bought an accordian-type but it isn’t quite right.

  48. Oh I would love a new hose! I’m tired of tripping over and fighting with our heavy, leaking, worthless hose. Pink would be pretty!

  49. I sooo need this. Too many ‘damn it’s’ to count! Have to choose the pink one. Thank you.

  51. If I won one of those cool hoses I’d like the red or the blue one. Thanks for the chance to win!

  52. Green, green, green- my favoritest color ever! It’s really kink proof ‘cuz I’ve bought hoses before that say they’re kink proof and they’re not. Wow they even look cool!

  54. Kink free! Like that. Did you try driving over it? I do that somtimes. I would like a blue one.

  55. How great not to wrestle with a hose while the chickens and dog are out! I’d love a red one!!

  56. If it really is kink free, it could be 12 ugly shades of puce and I wouldn’t care (however, the perwinkle blue is lovely…).
    Forgive me for not believing till I see it, but the promise of kink free has dashed my hopes and crushed my dreams one time too many! Thanks for the chance to play!

  57. I would be very happy to win this. More hose! Kink free!
    Just recently discovered your blog. It’s great and useful. Thanks.

  58. Ohhhh. Gimme, gimme, gimme (ahem…Please)!
    A color that looks good after being hauled around my garden soil for the next 5 years will be nice, since you ask. I guess that would be grey?
    I’ll connect it up to my sump/groundwater supply and happily hose my veggies with free water. I’d love to say I’m spending nothing to grow a lot.
    Thank you for this kind offer.

  61. A hose was one of my first purchases as a new homeowner a long time ago. A kink free hose would be a wonderful replacement for that too-heavy, leaky old-fashioned one that’s been liberally repaired with gorilla tape. A terrific invention. Gray, please.

  62. Light weight, non-kinking, sounds great! The hose I have now is so heavy. I also love all the colors, but the grey, white and pinky/tan are my favorite.
    Yes, my favorite color is rainbow!

  65. Oh, I’d be interested to see how it holds up down here in the high UV environment in Texas. It seems that the kinktastic and uncontrollable PVC hoses hold up well until they suddenly crack and go boom, while even the expensive heavy duty rubber hoses (which are controllable and flex and don’t collapse and don’t hold kinks) quickly lose their resilience at any point where they’ve been bent, especially around the fittings.

  68. I would love that light pink rose-ish color. I would also love a hose that is truly kink-free…sort of the Holy Grail for watering.

  71. Wow, this is exactly what I need. My hose is heavy, and takes forever to coil.

    I like the red one.

  79. Gen, I just want to pop in and say, Thanks, for the opportunity to win this hose. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now and it is GREAT! My other hoses have been on their best behavior because I do believe they realize it won’t be long before they are all replaced by this excellent product. I think every time I replace a hose it will be with a different color so I can have a rainbow in my garden everyday.

    Thanks again,
    Ed

    • Ed, what a cheering note! I feel the same way. I just adore this hose! Who would have thought they could so improve on a classic? Thanks for checking back in. 🙂

  80. Hi, i am wondering where i may be able to purchase the Tuff-Guard Hose.
    And also, what is the price? i live in Toronto, Canada.
    Thanks very much!,Lynne