Watering lance vs spray gun
Updated: October 2026
The open question is the basket on the bracket, and the soil at the back of a border you currently water from a squat. A watering lance vs spray gun choice is about the shaft. This page uses the nine amazon.co.uk lances in the [watering lance comparison](/hub/garden-watering/watering-lance). The Products Compared editorial team wrote it on 16 October 2026 from those listings, The English Garden’s split between guns and lances, and BBC Gardeners’ World’s 2026 spray-gun review. We did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Gun models live on the [spray hose comparison](/hub/garden-watering/spray-hose).
The open question is the basket on the bracket, and the soil at the back of a border you currently water from a squat. A watering lance vs spray gun choice is about the shaft.
The open question is the basket on the bracket, and the soil at the back of a border you currently water from a squat. A watering lance vs spray gun choice is about the shaft. This page uses the nine amazon.co.uk lances in the watering lance comparison. The Products Compared editorial team wrote it on 16 October 2026 from those listings, The English Garden’s split between guns and lances, and BBC Gardeners’ World’s 2026 spray-gun review. We did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Gun models live on the spray hose comparison.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Reach | Control | Patterns | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Restmo RESTMO telescopic watering wand | 95–155 cm listed | Lockable trigger | 7 named | 9.2 | about £33.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Draper Draper GWSL-S shower lance | 670 mm | Top rocker (reviews) | 1 shower | 9.0 | about £7.19 | View offer |
| Alternative |  LINZI LINZI 84.5 cm spray gun | 84.5 cm | One-key | 8 unnamed | 9.0 | about £19.99 | View offer |
On this page
The shaft is the difference
The English Garden puts the two tools in different jobs. A gun rotates through patterns in the hand. A lance reaches the back of a wide bed and the baskets overhead, and it lets you water at soil level while you stay standing. Gardeners’ World, reviewing guns, describes a shower strong enough to reach the back of a flower bed. A gun can do some of that border work. A basket above your head still wants a shaft.
In this set, the stated lengths that clear a palm-sized gun are the LINZI at 84.5 cm, the fixed RESTMO at 94 cm in the bullets (item dimensions 91.5 cm), and the telescopic RESTMO if you keep its fields separate: 95–155 cm, 91–152 cm, 94 cm and 100.5 cm. The Draper at 670 mm is a shower shaft, longer than a gun that sits in the palm, with one pattern. For high baskets the top pick in this set is the telescopic RESTMO at £33.99, with the joint-leak notes read first. The fixed 94 cm RESTMO is the long lance when you want one stated length. The Draper at £7.19 is the best value when 670 mm is enough. That split is on best watering lance.
A pistol grip can still be a lance
The word gun in a title is a poor guide. The LINZI is sold as a long-handle spray gun, and the listing length is 84.5 cm, with a 180° head, eight unnamed modes and a 3/4 in male garden thread. A reviewer names Shower and Flood. Several users report weeks on Hozelock-style connectors. Handle leaks after a season, or after winter storage, are in the same file. You buy the 84.5 cm if the basket needs it, and you send it back if the thumb area weeps.
The 48 cm RESTMO puts a lockable pistol on a metal shaft, with seven named patterns. The grip feels like a gun. The shaft is what makes it a lance, and here the shaft is short. A reviewer says 48 cm is measured with the head straight out, and the item dimensions are 42 x 9 x 6 cm. The telescopic RESTMO uses the same lockable pistol on the only extending tube in the set. If you hate a thumb lever, read those two pistol listings, then still check the centimetres. Thread checks sit on the watering lance buying guide.
Keep the gun when you are not stretching
Keep the spray gun for plants already in arm’s reach, for filling a can, and for a bed a strong shower already covers. Gardeners’ World’s point stands: a gun shower can reach the back of a bed you can see into. Buy the lance when you are stretching, squatting, or soaking a sleeve.
About 45 cm stops earning its place
On the stored reviews, about 45 cm is where a lance stops earning its place over a gun. STYDDI reviewers say 18 in gives little extra reach, the length is fixed, the hose nut often arrives loose, and one detailed review says the head will not point straight down. GRIFEMA reviewers call the tube about 18 inches or about 15 cm and say it does not extend. The listing’s size field is 2.218 L, a volume, so there is no second official length. Both can still suit a bed you already reach. They are a weak reason to retire a gun you like.
A small yard of arm’s-reach pots can stay on the gun. Add the lance when the bracket is overhead. A jet on these lances is a hose pattern, including the LINZI’s stated maximum of 6 bar. Car washing and patio cleaning wait on your water company’s rules.
Common questions
What does a lance do that a spray gun does not?
It adds a shaft, so you can reach a basket overhead or water at soil level while you stay standing. The English Garden treats that reach, and a head you can tilt, as the lance’s job. A gun still changes pattern in the hand, and Gardeners’ World notes a shower that can hit the back of a bed. The shaft is the part the gun leaves out.
Is a long spray gun the same as a lance?
It is the same job when the listing length is a shaft. The LINZI is titled a long-handle spray gun and states 84.5 cm, with a 180° head and a 3/4 in male thread. That is lance reach with gun-like wording. A palm gun with no centimetre shaft is the other tool. Read the length line before the title.
When is a pistol grip on a shaft still a lance?
When you are buying the tube for reach. The 48 cm RESTMO and the telescopic RESTMO both have a lockable pistol. The short one feels like a gun and, in a review, measures 48 cm with the head straight out. The telescopic one claims to extend. The grip does not decide the category. The centimetres do.
Can a gun water the back of a border?
It can, when the shower is strong enough and you can already see into the bed. Gardeners’ World describes that on a gun. A lance is the better tool when you would squat to reach the soil, or when the planting is wider than your gun’s throw. In this set the stated lengths above about 80 cm are the LINZI and the long RESTMO listings.
When is 45 cm a poor swap for a gun?
When reviewers of that listing say the tube adds little reach. On the STYDDI, about 18 in is the figure they compare with a spray gun. The GRIFEMA draws the same complaint, at about 18 inches or about 15 cm of tube. Keep the gun for that job. Look at 84.5 cm or the 94 cm fixed RESTMO if you are stretching.
Does the lance replace a pressure washer?
A jet here is a garden-hose pattern. The LINZI lists a maximum of 6 bar. The other listings do not turn the lance into a pressure washer. Paths, cars and sills wait on your water company’s hosepipe rules, which the how-to page sets out with the ban and the can.
Related pages
Sources
Sources checked for this comparison; last retrieved on 17 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, dry weather and drought in England, 2 to 8 October 2026 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- Thames Water, temporary hosepipe ban (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- Water Regs UK, hose union taps (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- WaterSafe, hosepipe backflow (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- Ofwat, water pressure (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
- RHS, watering (retrieved 17 October 2026)