Fire hose buying guide
Updated: October 2026
You are matching a hose to a reel in a corridor or to a pump in a yard, and the amazon.co.uk titles all say fire hose. A fire hose buying guide has to settle the job before the price. The checks run in this order: job, bore and length, the printed standard, the coupling, then working pressure. The [fire hose comparison](/hub/fire-protection/fire-hose) is the product table. Shelf prices are GBP from those listings. Peter F. compared them on 20 October 2026, with no lab test. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are matching a hose to a reel in a corridor or to a pump in a yard, and the amazon.co.uk titles all say fire hose. A fire hose buying guide has to settle the job before the price.
You are matching a hose to a reel in a corridor or to a pump in a yard, and the amazon.co.uk titles all say fire hose. A fire hose buying guide has to settle the job before the price. The checks run in this order: job, bore and length, the printed standard, the coupling, then working pressure. The fire hose comparison is the product table. Shelf prices are GBP from those listings. Peter F. compared them on 20 October 2026, with no lab test. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Bore | Standard cited | Coupling | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  DAMBAT DAMBAT, 2 inch × 30 m | 2 inch | n/a | Quick-release at each end | 6.4 | about £49.95 | View offer |
 Firechief Firechief FH25/30, 25 mm × 30 m | 25 mm (listing: outside diameter) | BSEN696 | n/a | 7.1 | about £123 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  DAMBAT DAMBAT, 2 inch, title 20 m | 2 inch | n/a | Quick-release at each end | 4.1 | about £45.95 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the job
The hose you need decides every later line on the listing. A replacement for a wall reel is semi-rigid hose that stays round on the drum. Delivery hose for a hydrant or a pump is layflat, flat until water opens it. Write down which job you actually have before you compare about £45.95 with about £123.
In England and Wales, article 13 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires appropriate firefighting equipment where necessary. It does not require a hose reel. The Home Office guide treats extinguishers as the normal provision and describes hose reels as a supplement. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire-safety law. A household with only a garden tap is usually in the wrong category.
Bore and length in millimetres
Reel hose under BS EN 671-1 is 19 mm, 25 mm or 33 mm, in one piece, and not over 30 m on that reel system. A common spare is 25 mm × 30 m. A title that says 2 inch is about 51 mm. B09P5DTGVL at about £49.95 states 30 m in the title and in the length field. B09P5FQXL4 at about £45.95 says 20 m in the title and 30 m in the length field. The Firechief FH25/30, B074P4HNQP, at about £123 is listed as 25 mm × 30 m. The 25 mm line on that page is an outside diameter. Copy the bore off the hose you are removing before you treat that line as a match.
The standard printed on the listing
BS EN 694:2014 covers semi-rigid hose for fixed systems, at 1.2 MPa (12 bar) for 19 mm and 25 mm. BS 6391:2009 covers non-percolating layflat delivery hose for firefighting. EN 14540 covers layflat for fixed systems up to 1.5 MPa, in sizes from 25 mm to 52 mm. If the listing is silent, leave the standard blank. The Firechief bullet says approved to BSEN696. A product-description line on the same amazon.co.uk page says EN 694, and UK trade pages for the FH25/30 also say EN 694. Those strings do not match, so this guide keeps them as a clash. Neither DAMBAT listing names BS 6391 or EN 14540. A woven jacket and an EPDM liner are a construction, not those standards.
Coupling and working pressure
The usual UK delivery coupling is the 2½ inch instantaneous fitting to BS 336. Storz is a different system. Both DAMBAT listings stop at easy-fix quick-release connectors at each end. The Firechief listing includes 1× hose and does not name a coupling, so the amazon.co.uk bullets do not tell you the reel inlet. Read working pressure only after the standard and the coupling are named, and keep it separate from burst pressure. Both DAMBAT pages state a maximum of 116 psi. The Firechief bullets state no working pressure. Do not add a trade-page 15 bar figure to the about £123 row.
What to do next
Price is the last sort, not the first. Which listing fits which job is on best fire hose. The shape contrast is on hose reel hose vs layflat. A competent person takes over for the fire risk assessment, for fitting a reel to a main or a pump, and for the annual test against BS 5306-1. If the fire is already growing, the next step is 999.
Common questions
What should I check first on a fire hose listing?
Check the job, then the bore and the length in millimetres. A reel spare, layflat delivery hose and a garden hose can share the words fire hose in a title. The standard, the coupling and the working pressure mean something only after the job is clear. On B09P5FQXL4 the title says 20 m and the length field says 30 m, so that clash stops the order before the 3.0 star line does.
Is a 2 inch hose the same as a fire-service delivery hose?
Two inch is about 51 mm. London Fire Brigade delivery hose is 45 mm and 70 mm, often in 23 m lengths. The DAMBAT listings here are 2 inch white layflat at 116 psi, and neither names BS 6391. They can still be a pump or garden hose at that bore. They are a different size from the brigade hoses.
What does BS 336 mean for the coupling?
BS 336 is the usual British instantaneous coupling for delivery hose, nominally 2½ inch. Trade fittings to that standard are sold around a 16 bar working pressure. A listing that only says quick release has not named BS 336. Storz is a separate system. Match the fitting already on the pump or the hose you are replacing.
Why does a missing standard matter if the title says fire hose?
BS EN 694, BS 6391 and EN 14540 describe different hoses, different pressures and different systems. Neither DAMBAT page names one of them. The Firechief page uses BSEN696 on the bullet and EN 694 in the description, and this comparison does not merge those strings. Without one named standard you cannot tell a reel spare from general layflat, however large the words fire hose are in the title.
Is 116 psi a high fire-service pressure?
116 psi is the maximum printed on both DAMBAT listings. As a conversion of that labelled figure it is about 8 bar. EN 694 quotes 1.2 MPa, which is 12 bar, for 19 mm and 25 mm semi-rigid hose. BS 6391 layflat is specified up to 15 bar. The DAMBAT pages do not give a burst pressure. Treat 116 psi as their stated maximum, and keep it off any fire-service high-pressure claim.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 20 October 2026. amazon.co.uk prices and stars are the listings for B074P4HNQP, B09P5DTGVL and B09P5FQXL4.
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 13 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 17 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Home Office fire safety risk assessment guide (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- London Fire Brigade: hose (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- London City Hall DMFD90, provision of layflat hose (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BSI, BS EN 694:2014, semi-rigid hoses for fixed systems (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, routine maintenance (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Delta Fire: fire hose and the BS 336 coupling (retrieved 20 October 2026)