Not sure why you guys over there have so many problems with tools.
I just bought a Sidchrome toolkit (Australian Brand)
Like most if not all tool kits over here you get SAE & Metric in the same box.
The only reason I would run hard lines over hose would be if the hard line was a lot larger than the hose. 3/8 hose or 3/8 hard line is going to supply the same amout of air.
If you double the size of the hose you have 4 times the storage. At work we ran 1" hard lines to the sand blaster to...