Best Air Hose?

[i4ni]

I'm going to switch to Milton V Couplers and I may as well switch to newer hoses while I'm at. I'm probably going to use 1/4" couplers for the most part but I may go bigger on an tire inflator drop by the overhead door. We have real winters here so the hose must be flexible. Any suggestions?

 

[ImportTuner]

The best hoses I found are the Goodyear rubber hoses (red, black or yellow).

 

[Buckgnarly]

Flexzilla in the shop and on the outdoor reel. Stays flexible down to double digit negatives.

 

[nadogail]

I regard air hoses as a commodity, just like "regular" gasoline. I buy the "better" grade hoses from whoever sells them cheaper, lately that has been Harbor Freight.

 

[matt_i]

Imo the best air hose is Goodyear UltraGrip.

But its expensive. Ive bought cut pieces at McMaster Carr. Designed for heavy industrial/robot cells and lots of byproducts of spot welding (in automotive assembly plants) that degrade the hose.

There's lighter duty hose that's more flexible. The yellow Goodyear 3/8" I bought from Amazon is a decent balance.

 

[DeeKay]

I get mine from the MFCP (Parker) store, usually just black pushlok hose, holds up great and seems to be flexible enough for me but it only gets down to like 10°F here for the most part. Not sure if you're definition of real winter is Canada cold or midwest cold haha.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Harbor Freight has nice PVC-rubber hybrid hoses. They're much more flexible in the cold, and haven't cracked n died in 5 years of use, unlike rubber ones that came on the reels.
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-t...-x-25-ft-pvcrubber-hybrid-air-hose-56568.html

 

[coljar]

I use the Goodyear red hoses. I recently threw one of them away that I'd had since 1981. It came with my first Reelcraft.

 

[homebuilt burner]

I just changed out my 10 year old red Goodyear hoses for Flexzilla about a month ago. So far, I’m happy with that choice. The old ones were getting stiff.

 

[Jking24]

I second the harbor freight hybrid green hoses very good for the money and super flexible even when cold

 

[rmack898]

I have two hose reels with Flexzilla on them. The first one is at least 5 years old, maybe older. No problems with them in a welding and fabrication shop.

 

[YeCats]

I have coin operated air machines. I use the blue ones from Tractor Supply. Smart flex? They last!

 

[i4ni]

Are you guys using 3/8" hose with the high flow 1/4" couplers? Old school was 3/8" couplers to 3/8" hose and 1/4" couplers to 1/4" hose. I've been getting by with the old stuff so I'm not up on all these new high flow couplers and air hoses. My old hoses were the red Goodyears and some of those are 30 plus years old lol. The old couplers are ARO {type A} and I still have some new couplers and plugs but if I'm gonna upgrade to high flow I want everything to be the same.

 

[James-W]

I have a 50ft Flexzilla hose and I really like it. Very flexible and didn't cost a small fortune.

 

[never enuf time]

Senco all the way. Takes a little time to wear in.

 

[vwpieces]

Flexzilla and Coilhose Pneumatics Flex Eel
Prefer the flexeel with the repairable couplers and it stays clean. Flexzilla gets filthy fast and don't come clean. HFT now has a copy of the Flex-eel mentioned earlier but I have not used it.

 

[Showkey]

No poly hoses and no plastic ends is a good start.

 

[tdkkart]

I bought a new 50ft Flexzilla while setting up to paint a car, seemed too flexible to me, had trouble with it kinking as I drug it around the car.

 

[sweetk30]

Flexzilla hoses / reals / couplers in my shop . 10 years now on my first and still going . Its the 75 ft real unit .

 

[LS6 Tommy]

SmartFlex and Flexilla are both Legacy products. My guess is Flexilla is marketed towards homeowners, Smartflex is towards shops/pros.
IDK for sure, but it seems the only real measurable differences (besides price and color) is the SmartFlex hoses have steel NPT ends, the Flexillas are aluminum. The Flexillas also have a fancier bend relief on the ends. Flexila is rated -40°F to 140°F, the Smart Flex is -30° F- 140°F. They are both rated for 300# and have the same 2 year warranty.

No brainer for me if I get new hoses, it's SmartFlex. $12.00 less than Flexilla on Amazon...

Tommy

 

[infinkc]

Flexzilla here also, before I used senco hoses.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The best hoses I found are the Goodyear rubber hoses (red, black or yellow).

Believe it or not, they used to sell them at Harbor Freight !

 

[BearsFan315]

Have a Flexilla Reel on the wall for everyday usage, also a 50ft Flexilla hose if i need to get out further, mainly down the driveway.

also have a crappy blue pvc one that i let neighbor borrow when they need a hose not getting my flexilla. plus hte blue pvc came with the compressor when i bought it.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I like the ones without holes, as long as air comes out one end.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I prefer Flexzilla...got some garden hose too

 

[finn]

I have regular vinyl, the woven fabric covered rubber that came with my sears Craftsman compressor in 1980, Goodyear rubber, some hybrid I don’t remember the name of, and Flexilla, which I think is some sort of hybrid.

I like the Flexilla (and probably it’s knock offs) the best. The unknown is next, GoodYear rubber is mid pack.

The ancient Sears is remarkable though. It’s getting stiff, but only has one repair, made about 25 years ago.

 

[PoorUB]

I ran a repair shop for a few years and nothing I found would stand up to the grease and oil until i tried Aeroquip push on hose and fittings. The hose it actually rated for oil lines and rated to 300 PSI. I still use the hose I bought about 35 years ago and it is still in good shape. A bit on the expensive side, but when you weight it out over time it is pretty inexpensive! If the working end of the hose goes bad I just cut off the bad section, cut the barb fitting out and shove it into the remaining hose.

 

[Sumboodie]

I have a flex zilla style hose but it's blue, almost clear looking.
Not sure the brand, got a 100ft length at our local industrial supply.

 

[txvwnut]

I've been happy with Flexzilla. Used to use the yellow Goodyear but it would get stiff in the winter which made it a little troublesome for the reel.

 

[OldracerJones]

I've always used the red rubber hose from Goodyear but bought a flexzilla hose for our local VFD and what a great hose. My new ones for the shop will be flexzilla.

 

[johninct]

I really like the Snap-On Poly hose. VERY Light and flexible. The only thing, I am afraid to use it near welding for fear of a spark hitting it so I use a Flexzilla for that.

 

[Showkey]

The “flex” type products (not the brand) often have a common problem that transitions water hose products as well.........many are NOT actually flexible:




The fact all these products are marked contractor or professional is similar to the wash machine marked commercial or HEAVY DUTY.

 

[sweetk30]

The “flex” type products (not the brand) often have a common problem that transitions water hose products as well.........many are NOT actually flexible:




The fact all these products are marked contractor or professional is similar to the wash machine marked commercial or HEAVY DUTY.

yep that hose in the pic looks like std hose just green . . .and all these fake uses of the terms or names ***** anymore .

 

[rmmiller]

Kuri-tec has a couple very good hoses too, their poly air and tundra hoses are very flexible.

Believe it or not, they used to sell them at Harbor Freight !

Those are not the same as the older Goodyear hoses. They are a licensed product by the Goodyear tire division.

The original Goodyear hose products division was sold off to Veyance years ago and was branded Goodyear Engineered Products. Not too long ago that name went away when the hose division was sold again to Continental and branded Contitech.

It's all still the same products, manufactured in the same plants, just different names.

 

[Kaizen]

I'm going to switch to Milton V Couplers and I may as well switch to newer hoses while I'm at. I'm probably going to use 1/4" couplers for the most part but I may go bigger on an tire inflator drop by the overhead door. We have real winters here so the hose must be flexible. Any suggestions?

I have a flexible reel on the ceiling. First hose I grab all year. Even my good hoses harden up in freeze temps. I switched to the purple miltons. Like them. Sometimes they get stuck open though when disconnecting.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[BlindViper]

At 10:58 starts some good information

 

[cvairwerks]

I've got a couple of SmartFlex hoses and don't really like them. Too easy to kink them and they are a pain to roll up. Probably going to go back to Contitech when I order some new ones.

 

[alexb2000]

I have Goodyear, Flexzilla, Flexeel, etc. I like a long 1/4" poly hose for running a nail gun. Goodyear for a paint booth. However, my favorite for general use in the shop... Prevost

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N07GOUG/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Farmall450]

I have a 50ft Flexzilla hose and I really like it. Very flexible and didn't cost a small fortune.

They're almost $60 not on sale. I wish Legacy made a smart flex in 1/2.

 

[Farmall450]

I have coin operated air machines. I use the blue ones from Tractor Supply. Smart flex? They last!

Same oem as Flexilla, I like these too. 3/8x50 for ~$25.