Andrews 50-Foot 2 Tube Sprinkler Hose 10-12348

Like many homeowners, I have a few areas in my yard and gardens that have a shape than is incompatible with most sprinkler types due to the need for a long narrow watering pattern. Such areas include narrow flower beds along walkways, reseeded grass along the edges of paved areas, etc.I remember in my youth that every father had a green sprinkler hose that produced a fairly narrow zone of tall mist, and often these were set up just for us kids to run and play in. Nostalgia! I have thought of those old green sprinkler hoses many times over recent years when I have been shopping for a new sprinkler hose at Ace Hardware, True Value, Home Depot, Menards, and other hardware stores. At least in my geographical region (northern Illinois), the ONLY sprinkler hoses for sale are these horrible black ones made from sintered rubber particles. I can only guess that these are considered to be environmentally friendly as they presumably use recycled tire runner or something like that.But these sintered black rubber sprinkler hoses are always stiff, you can't get them to lay flat reliably, they stretch and shrink longitudinally with changes in temperature, causing buckling, they are not laterally flexible so you can't use them very well along a curved pattern, and worst of all they never have enough holes to produce a good watering pattern....they just squirt streams of water in random directions that each end up watering tiny areas that are far removed and separate from each other.Being recently in need of a hose to water a 2-foot wide, 40 foot long newly created flower bed, I realized that unless I did it by hand every day, the black hoses would be totally unable to water such a narrow area very well. Then I remembered the old green hoses of my youth, and asked some old guys at my local Ace Hardware. They knew exactly what I was talking about, and one said, "Well, you won't find it in stores around here and believe me I have looked, but go online and search for Andrews sprinkler hose, and you will be a happy man".I did as instructed, and found the Andrews website, which if you want to look is 'amandrews' with the usual DOT COM at the end. It is a simple webpage with not a lot of information, and oddly it does not go into much information on the product (they seem to have only the one product, but have been making it for 50 years). The testimonials were excellent, so I went to Amazon and purchased a 50 foot long version. Note that Andrews makes the hose in 30 foot, 50 foot, and 100 foot versions that are identical except for the length of material; if you bought a 100 footer and cut off 50 feet, it would be identical to the 50 foot version they sell.So, what is special about this Andrews hose? Here are some major features:- Very thin, flexible plastic material that will lay flat, does not have significant stretch or shrink, and which will easily follow a meandering path (i.e. it does not need to be laid out straight).- Very low bulk, so when you roll it up for storage a 50 foot version takes up about as much space as a rolled up shirt. Contrast this with the very bulky black sintered rubber ones.- Very smooth finish; dirt does not adhere to it and a quick wipe will make it clean for storage.- Dual tube construction; it is like two parallel tubes, each serving the row of sprinkler pinholes on its side of the hose.- Lies very flat due to self draining. When you turn off the water, the hose sort of self empties, as the wall of the two parallel tubes collapse from their weight, the water exits through the pinholes, and practically no water remains inside. This may not be so important as a 'feature', but it does illustrate the extreme flexibility of the material, since any other sprinkler hose is made from such stiff material that such a 'tube collapse' would never happen.- When the water is turned on, the two parallel tubes first inflate with air, then with water, and the hose takes on a flat figure 8 cross section. This makes the hose very stable while watering, and it seems to have no tendency to shift around. The shape also seems to help give the hose a definite shape that accurately points the pinholes in the desired directions (see below).- A great multitude of pinholes. I don't know how they do this in the factory. Each hole is so small as to be invisible if it were not for almost imperceptible light brown marks encircling each hole. Almost like the holes were made with a tiny laser beam or something. At any rate, there is no apparent deformation of the plastic that you might expect of they had simply 'poked holes' in the material. I can't be sure, but my guess is that all the holes are burned in straight through the plastic, but in a pattern that ends up pointing the holes in slightly different directions based on where they are relative to the curved surface when the tunes inflate. The upshot is a very even pattern of water sprays that surround the hose.- With the pinholes so small, you don't quickly lose water pressure down the length of the hose. In my layout, the ground slopes uphill away from the end where the water goes in, and my well system produces only about 40PSI maximum, usually quite a bit less, and still the entire length of hose (even at the top of the slope) gets a nice even spray pattern.- Something about the way the pinholes are done results in the water coming out in a slight spray instead of an even stream. This makes the water droplets decelerate quickly in the air, and they dissipate into a nice mist pattern, as opposed to the narrow streams of water that shoot several feet away from other kinds of sprinkler hoses, randomly watering everywhere except where you placed the hose.- The holes are so small that no dirt will go into them. You can flip the hose over so the side with the pinholes faces downwards, and the have a nice soaker hose.- The hose is terminated on one end with a special fitting that splits the incoming water (from the normal garden hose fitting) into the two parallel tubes that comprise the hose.- The other end of the hose is just cut off with a blade and there is nothing special about it and nothing is done at the factory to terminate it. However, the hose comes with a termination kit, consisting of a short length of plastic dowel rod that is perhaps 3/16" in diameter, and an aluminum clip. You decide where you want the sprinkler to end, lay the plastic dowel across the flat hose at the desired end point, and fold the rest of the hose back over the dowel to lay flat against the main part of the hose. Then you slip the aluminum clip over the dowel; it slips on easily but firmly, and the hose is basically pinched flat all the way where it bends around the dowel. This effectively seals the end, and you have the choice of cutting off the excess hose with a scissors, or simply rolling it up and leaving it be (allowing future length adjustments).I have been delighted with this hose. It is so much better in every way from all the others I see in stores, and it is not even expensive. The manufacturer clearly has a winner on their hands, having made the same thing for half a century, although I might hazard a guess that the formulation of the plastic used has probably kept up with the times. This is a great product.

Cheap plastic, CANNOT BE CONNECTED TOGETHER - only has a hose fitting on one end. Very thin and fragile and cannot be repaired with regular hose repair fittings. Not worth the money. Find another solution. Additional comment. Now am returning them all because they do not hold together enough to pull them across the yard. There are two D fittings that sit inside the threaded brass hose connector. They do not clamp, crimp or otherwise attach to the hose connector so the slilghest tug pulls the cheap plastic hose out and replacing it and putting it back in doesn't work it just comes right back out as soon asyou turn the water on. Total waste of hours of time. Wish I had my money and my time back. There is no excuse for manufacturing something like this. Save yourself the grief and buy somehting else.

The hose was pretty basic for the price which I felt was a bit higher than it should have been. It promptly came apart and spewed water everywhere but fixing it was fairly simple and resulted in a much sturdier operation. It now works fine for keeping my newly seeded lawn evenly watered.

I've been using Andrews sprinkler hoses for decades. They can be great for specific applications as long as you know the trade-offs. Standing sprinkler hoses tend to be fairly rigid and difficult to deploy or put away. The Andrews hose is very thin and flexible, making it easier to deploy and put away. A standard sprinkler hose comes in a fixed length. The Andrews hose has a clip on the end that can be used to shorten or lengthen the hose for a specific area, and even cut unneeded length (in my case, I have a 40' row) without damaging the hose. The downside of the hose is it is more fragile than a standard sprinkler hose; it can be torn easily, which effectively wrecks it. Knowing the pros and cons helps decide whether it will work best for your application.

I bought the 50' hoses )+(did not have enough water pressure for the 100 ' hoses) last year to do sprinkling on my narrow side lawns and they worked well. It is a little tricky setting them up because they sit on grass. They worked well and I was able to repair a leak when it happened on the bottom of the hose. I ended up having to replace one, but didn't use it right away. As soon as I did, the hose blew out of the coupling and was no good anymore, but it was past the return date when I tried using it for the first time. I bought two more anticipating replacing the one (thinking this one was a fluke) but ended up not using them them because we ended up with enough rain. I am putting them away for next year now and will hope they both work. If they don't, I will have to write them off and write a rather scathing review. Right now, I am reserving judgement because when they work, they work very well and suit my needs for sure. I am hopeful that I will be happy with them next year.