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Reinforced garden hose vs expandable hose

Updated: 22 October 2026

You have a 100 ft expandable hose in one basket and a 50 m PVC coil in the other, and they look like the same reach with different storage. A reinforced garden hose vs expandable hose choice is mostly a length choice. One hundred feet is about 30.5 metres, not 50. Peter F., editor for DIY and tools, used amazon.co.uk listings for four reinforced hoses, plus Which? and BBC Gardeners’ World on expandable hose. We did not run a durability lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The reinforced shortlist is the [50m garden hose comparison](/hub/garden-watering/50m-garden-hose).

You have a 100 ft expandable hose in one basket and a 50 m PVC coil in the other, and they look like the same reach with different storage. A reinforced garden hose vs expandable hose choice is mostly a length choice.

Our top picks

TW Wholesale TW Wholesale (50 m)

Best overall

TW Wholesale TW Wholesale (50 m)
7.8/10about £32.99
View offer
Draper Draper (56315)

Alternative

Draper Draper (56315)
7.8/10about £33.78
View offer
Faithfull Faithfull (50 m)

Rank 3

Faithfull Faithfull (50 m)
8.1/10about £34.30
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.100 ft is not a 50 m hose
  2. 2.What each hose is made of
  3. 3.Weight, storage, and pressure
  4. 4.When the expandable hose is still fair

100 ft is not a 50 m hose

Convert the title before you compare prices. One hundred feet is about 30.5 m. One hundred and fifty feet is about 45.7 m. Neither figure is 50 m. Expandable listings also sell length as up to. Hozelock’s Superhoze table states lengths as up to the printed figure and says they depend on pressure. A hose that only reaches its number when the tap is open is not the same object as a 50 m PVC coil that stays 50 m with the water off. A 28 m terrace can be watered with a 100 ft expandable hose if that up-to length is honest at your pressure. A 48 m vegetable plot cannot. Buying the expandable hose because 100 sounds bigger than 50 is the usual mix-up. The numbers are not in the same unit.

What each hose is made of

The reinforced hoses we kept are PVC with a polyester braid: an inner layer, a woven reinforcement, and an outer jacket. Faithfull, Draper, TW Wholesale, and Hozelock Select are that construction. The braid limits stretch. It does not stop kinks. Reviews describe a fold that stops the flow, a curl that stays, or a split when the kink is pulled straight. An expandable hose is a different assembly. Which? describes an elastic core inside a fabric outer. The core grows when the tap is on and shrinks when you turn it off. Which? also says the jacket snags, and the core breaks if you overstretch it, drag it, or let it freeze. BBC Gardeners’ World says expandable hoses save space and can split more readily than a regular hose. That is not a season-by-season failure rate. The PVC kink and the latex split are not the same repair.
TW Wholesale TW Wholesale (50 m)

Testsieger

TW Wholesale TW Wholesale (50 m)
7.8/10about £32.99
View offer

Weight, storage, and pressure

A 50 m reinforced coil is a weight you store on a reel. Printed weights in the kept set are Faithfull 4.95 kg, Hozelock Select 5.35 kg, and Draper 6.6 kg. TW prints none. Expandable listings set aside from this category were about 750 g to about 2 kg. You can carry one in one hand when it is empty. BBC Gardeners’ World says an expandable hose is not the tool for a pressure washer. The reinforced listings do not state a washer rating either. Faithfull’s up to 20 bar line is a bursting figure, and one reviewer still reported splits on a supply they put at about 2 bar. An expandable hose can also come up short on a weak tap. A fixed 50 m PVC length will not.

When the expandable hose is still fair

Choose the expandable hose when three things are true together. The measured run is inside the honest up-to length, near 30 m for a 100 ft title, not 50. You are watering by hand, not feeding a pressure washer. And you will store it indoors, empty. In that garden a 6.6 kg Draper coil is surplus reach. Choose reinforced PVC when the tape is near 50 m, when you want a length that does not depend on tap pressure, or when you would rather deal with a kink than a split elastic core. Reinforced is a stable length and a braid, not a promise that the hose never folds. Connectors are bought separately. A 50 m title you only need 20 m of is the same over-buy as a 100 ft hose on a short balcony, with more weight.

Common questions

Is 100 ft the same as 50 m?
No. One hundred feet is about 30.5 m. One hundred and fifty feet is about 45.7 m. A 50 m garden hose is longer than both. Comparing the two titles as if the larger number were the longer hose is the usual mix-up, because one figure is imperial and the other is metric.
Does an expandable hose stay at its advertised length?
Not as a fixed length on the ground. Makers, including Hozelock for Superhoze, describe expandable length as up to a figure that depends on pressure. When the tap is off, the hose shrinks. A reinforced 50 m coil stays 50 m whether the water is running or not, which is why it needs a reel.
Which one kinks, and which one splits for a different reason?
Reinforced PVC in this set kinks. Reviews describe lost flow, a curl that stays, and splits when a kink is pulled straight. Expandable hose fails at the elastic core and the fabric jacket. Which? cites snagging, overstretching, dragging, and freezing. Those are different faults. Neither construction is kink-proof or split-proof.
Can I run a pressure washer on an expandable hose?
BBC Gardeners’ World says an expandable hose is not the tool for a pressure washer. The reinforced listings in our set do not state a pressure-washer rating either. Faithfull’s 20 bar line is a burst figure, not permission to use the hose on a washer. Treat both as garden-tap hoses unless a listing you trust says otherwise.
What happens if either hose freezes while full?
Which? says an expandable core can break if it freezes. A reinforced PVC hose can still split or take a permanent kink if it is left full in a frost, whatever a temperature bullet says. Drain both. Store the expandable hose indoors, and store a PVC reel in a frost-free place.

Related pages

50 metre garden hose buying guide

How to fit a 50m garden hose

50m flexible garden hose

50m garden hose

Best 50m garden hose shortlist for a long UK garden

Hosepipe ban rules for a 50m garden hose in the UK

Sources

Public UK sources used for hosepipe bans, BS 3746, backflow and the maker pages. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved on 19 October 2026. No laboratory test.

  1. Water Industry Act 1991, section 76 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. Ofwat — hosepipe bans (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. Water UK — hosepipe ban FAQ (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. Thames Water — temporary hosepipe ban (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. BSI — BS 3746:1990 PVC garden hose (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. WaterSafe — hosepipe backflow (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Draper — 56315 reinforced watering hose (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Hozelock hose comparison table (retrieved 22.10.2026)