Flat hosepipes

[Darren72]

As we are are virgin owners and only had our first boat now for a fortnight, the hosepipe is/has been kept in the bows gas locker and you need to be a member of Mensa to be able to get the damn thing out with out catching the gas pipes/regulator etc as its far too big on its coil. I have just ordered a flat hosepipe which is a lot smaller coiled up. Are they any good or no different. Our boat is 50ft and the new pipe is the same. Do you think that the length is sufficient as thats the longest I could find?

[alan_fincher]

The problem with flat hose-pipes, is that you have to unwind the whole damn thing, before you can use it at all.

 

In 90% of cases it will then be 3 or 4 times longer than it needs to be, and the rate of delivery will be slowed by all that unnecessary hose.

 

It will not last long, possibly, before the winding handle snaps off, or you suffer some other failure.

 

Far better, IMO, to but a conventional one, and split it about 30%/70% of it's length.

 

The vast majority of cases you will only need to break out the short bit, and the rest can stay undisturbed in the locker. Occasionally you will need the longer bit. If you get it right only very very rarely will you need to join and wrestle with the entire length.

[ditchcrawler]

As we are are virgin owners and only had our first boat now for a fortnight, the hosepipe is/has been kept in the bows gas locker and you need to be a member of Mensa to be able to get the damn thing out with out catching the gas pipes/regulator etc as its far too big on its coil. I have just ordered a flat hosepipe which is a lot smaller coiled up. Are they any good or no different. Our boat is 50ft and the new pipe is the same. Do you think that the length is sufficient as thats the longest I could find?

 

I think you will enjoy winding it up each time after use and also running it all out in the mud when the filler is only 6 foot from the tap. I wouldn't consider one, not quite true, I did consider buying one to extend our main hose on the very few occasions its to short to reach, but that has only been once in ten years.

[classicstove]

If you use a rubber hosepipe, you will find that the pipe does not crush and will easily 'roll' into a loop - you can then take as much of the loop as required to reach to the tap - the trick is to moor so the water point is very near to the water filling point on the boat

[Guest Quo Vadis]

Congratulations on getting a boat !

I briefly flirted with a woven type flat hose, but found it got very dirty and was then hard to keep clean. Reverted to a standard 30m hose on a reel that we store in the shower. When cruising, we just keep it on the front deck.

[Robbo]

If you your on a home mooring, you'll most likely use the same water point - make your main hose just the right length for that.

[haggis]

As we are are virgin owners and only had our first boat now for a fortnight, the hosepipe is/has been kept in the bows gas locker and you need to be a member of Mensa to be able to get the damn thing out with out catching the gas pipes/regulator etc as its far too big on its coil. I have just ordered a flat hosepipe which is a lot smaller coiled up. Are they any good or no different. Our boat is 50ft and the new pipe is the same. Do you think that the length is sufficient as thats the longest I could find?

 

We have a flat hose on Gamebird - small boat so need a hose which doesn't take up much room. Yes, it is a pain to have to roll it all out every time we use it but it rolls up quite easily. We have had ours for about 12 years now and it is still going strong. That statement will probably mean that it will fall to bits the next time we use it :-)

 

haggis

[Davidss]

Classicstove gives the disadvantage, and gives a solution, that I was going to mention.

I don't know what material of hose the others use, but most I've come across are 'plastic', whether garden hose or the potable water quality version of the same thing. These kink, and the kinks stay in place, especially when the locker is heated by the sun, and then cooled.

The kinks degrade the water flow as effectively as an unrolled flat hose. By the time you have unrolled and un-kinked the plastic garden hose you might as well have unrolled 50 feet of flat hose to get the 15 feet you actually need.

 

By taking care in both the unrolling AND the rolling up you can get kink free plastic hose, but again it's a time consuming activity that at times seems quite anal, especially when you start shouting at your partner because they are faster but less careful :-)

 

By all means aim to moor just the right distance from the water tap, but again this can lead you to being too fixated on this aspect, and stressed when something or someone prevents your plan from working out as you would wish.

 

As ever, after taking in all the advice, find a system that suits you, your hose, and your storage system, without giving you too much grief.

 

Good Luck

[Ray T]

We tried one and after all the shenanigans mentioned above have now reverted to a "conventional" hose.

[jelunga]

When I bought our boas it had two flat hoses and one reel of normal hose. The flat hoses have both split and are not repairable. The normal hose is still serviceable.

Flat hose is a p. I. A. Since you have to unreel tge whe thing. It may also retain/accumulate more bugs than smooth bore water hose. For that reason I woukd not touch one for drinking water.

[Pie Eater]

We have a flat hose on Gamebird - small boat so need a hose which doesn't take up much room. Yes, it is a pain to have to roll it all out every time we use it but it rolls up quite easily. We have had ours for about 12 years now and it is still going strong. That statement will probably mean that it will fall to bits the next time we use it :-)

 

haggis

Same here. We got the boat in 1999 and we are still using the same flat hose.

 

Steve

[Darren72]

Classicstove gives the disadvantage, and gives a solution, that I was going to mention.

I don't know what material of hose the others use, but most I've come across are 'plastic', whether garden hose or the potable water quality version of the same thing. These kink, and the kinks stay in place, especially when the locker is heated by the sun, and then cooled.

The kinks degrade the water flow as effectively as an unrolled flat hose. By the time you have unrolled and un-kinked the plastic garden hose you might as well have unrolled 50 feet of flat hose to get the 15 feet you actually need.

 

By taking care in both the unrolling AND the rolling up you can get kink free plastic hose, but again it's a time consuming activity that at times seems quite anal, especially when you start shouting at your partner because they are faster but less careful :-)

 

By all means aim to moor just the right distance from the water tap, but again this can lead you to being too fixated on this aspect, and stressed when something or someone prevents your plan from working out as you would wish.

 

As ever, after taking in all the advice, find a system that suits you, your hose, and your storage system, without giving you too much grief.

 

Good Luck

 

 

I plan to take the existing hose home as the one attached to the side of the house has now a split in it. We will keep the flat hose in the bow locker for our trips out. We are currently moored at a marina with a water point on the jetty. I will cut down the old hose from home to make a suitable length for filling up while marina moored. And also keep this in the bow locker, the length shall be approx 5-6ft. If and when possible we will use this short length for water points, if not we will use the flat hose. Its all a learning curve for us. Last week I realised we only needed short ropes for mooring in the marina and have made up too short lengths with Carabinas on the end for easy mooring and have stowed away the miles of long rope.

We'll learn as we go along! As I am sure you all did when you first started out.

[ditchcrawler]

I plan to take the existing hose home as the one attached to the side of the house has now a split in it. We will keep the flat hose in the bow locker for our trips out. We are currently moored at a marina with a water point on the jetty. I will cut down the old hose from home to make a suitable length for filling up while marina moored. And also keep this in the bow locker, the length shall be approx 5-6ft. If and when possible we will use this short length for water points, if not we will use the flat hose. Its all a learning curve for us. Last week I realised we only needed short ropes for mooring in the marina and have made up too short lengths with Carabinas on the end for easy mooring and have stowed away the miles of long rope.

We'll learn as we go along! As I am sure you all did when you first started out.

Good move on the ropes,I use to leave mine attached to the mooring and just look the eyes over the bow and stern dollies when we came home.

[PhilR]

Good move on the ropes,I use to leave mine attached to the mooring and just look the eyes over the bow and stern dollies when we came home.

 

I agree with ditchcrawler. I recycle/splice together old ropes for our home mooring and save decent rope for when out boating. I have 6 short ropes permanently attached to the landing stage to cater for mooring in both directions. 4 of them are eye spliced. They are all too short and worn to be worth nicking but are there ready to provide instant bow, stern and spring lines.

 

Regarding water hoses, I use 2 x 12 metre lengths of semi rigid clear hose with an assortment of hozelock fittings. 90% of the time one 12 metre length is adequate. I do have an old flat hose in reserve but it has never been used for 10 years. But I appreciate that some people might have storage issues. Personally, I have found flat hoses to be a real pain ........ but they are easy to store onboard.

[Jeanie920]

We have a flat hose. You dont need to unroll it all,just the length you need. Its brilliant and takes up a lot less room than a conventional hose. And its a lot lighter to carry.

Dont know how to do a link but if you put Brunner flat hose in Google you will find it

Jean

[saltysplash]

We also use a flat hose when cruising.

 

The space saved far outweighs any disadvantage of having to unreel the hose each time its used. Its now about 5 years old and still going strong. When winding it back in I always hold it with a rag to firstly clear any bits of grit or dirt off the hose as its reeled in and secondly to expel any water left in the hose.

[Bob18]

Flat hose pipes.

Nothing but trouble. Every time you use the hose you have to unwind it all, find a "tidy" way of making sure water will flow through it; then when you've finished drain the water from the hose as you s-l-o-w-l-y wind it up again, without getting any twists in it (which lead to holes when stored).

A good quality normal hose is better, on a decent drum, although I've just spotted something even better - having a long and a short hose - most of the time you use the short one, but when you need to you use the long one, and when you really need to you join the two.

[alan_fincher]

We have a flat hose. You dont need to unroll it all,just the length you need.

How does that work then ???

[blackrose]

I don't know what some people are doing but I've never had a problem with the flat hosepipes. I've used them for years. Unrolling the hose isn't a big deal and neither is rolling it back up. You just have to be a bit more careful with them as the plastic is a bit softer than regular hosepipes. I also have a couple of shorter lengths of hose should I find the bow of my boat close to a water point.

Edited October 17, 2011 by blackrose

[Robbo]

How does that work then ???

 

I've seen one, it was flat all the time and was made of hardish plastic with a support in the middle. It was very restrictive.

[Mike Jordan]

The flat hose is my favourite, Ive had a number of both types of hose and found the flat to be neater and easier to use. My first lay flat hose was an expensive one that lasted one season, but the cheap and nasty one with a woven finish I bought to replace it lasted for years. it makes life easier if you can leave the end connected to the fill point all the time (depends on siting of the fill point) this stops contamination and speeds the set up time.

Best of luck

Mike

[Athy]

If we are able to moor right next to a water poit, I don't feel the need to use the hose at all. We carry two buckby cans, I fill these, insert a funnel into the water tank 'ole, pour in the contents of the cans, and repeat this a few times. Job done and no muddy and/ or snaky hoses to worry about. Conveniently, filling the tank in this way takes about the same length of time as it takes Mrs. Athy to boil the kettle and concoct hot drinks.

[WJM]

I bought a flat hose on eBay recently. It does not need to be unrolled to allow the water to flow, it works perfectly when it is completely rolled up.

 

I bought it because it is 'food safe'. The average garden hose will leech plasticiser chemicals into the water flowing through it. If you are drinking from your tank then it is argued that you will consume this chemical.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300540418269#ht_1655wt_896

[WotEver]

I bought a flat hose on eBay recently. It does not need to be unrolled to allow the water to flow, it works perfectly when it is completely rolled up.

We have exactly the same one. It's actually manufactured as three small-bore hoses side-by-side. For our (just over) 10 metre boat the 15 metre hose is also a perfect length. If we were to buy a longer boat I'd buy another hose the same and couple them together when necessary.

 

Tony

[Guest]

As we are are virgin owners and only had our first boat now for a fortnight, the hosepipe is/has been kept in the bows gas locker and you need to be a member of Mensa to be able to get the damn thing out with out catching the gas pipes/regulator etc as its far too big on its coil. I have just ordered a flat hosepipe which is a lot smaller coiled up. Are they any good or no different. Our boat is 50ft and the new pipe is the same. Do you think that the length is sufficient as thats the longest I could find?

 

After a brief stint with a 'proper' drinking water hose (a blue one) we got increasingly fed up with struggling with it especially when it was cold and very stiff to work with.

 

So I like a lot of others went with a conventional hose like this and life is so much simpler and easier.

 

After a tip on here (from Allan - Keeping up) what I have done is connected it so that I can walk to the tap click it on and walk back to the boat only discharging as much hose as I need. I then use the short section that normally connects to the tap to run from the reel to the water filler on the boat.

 

Because of the design the water still flows through even when there is hose left on the reel.