The Continental ContiTech Rubber Hose May Weigh You Down

We purchased the Continental ContiTech Commercial Premium Rubber Hose so our reviewer could put it to the test in her garden. Keep reading for our full product review.

When we’re shopping for garden hoses, our primary consideration is ease of use and leak prevention. Made of heavy-duty rubber, the Continental ContiTech Commercial Premium Rubber Hose claims to resist abrasions and kinks and withstand high water pressure, meaning no twisting, bending, leaking, splitting, or bursting.

We wanted to see if the product delivered on these promises, so we hooked it up to the spigot in our Portland, Oregon, backyard and went about watering our vegetable garden and lawn. How tightly did the brass fittings connect to spray nozzles and other accessories? And how easy was it to maneuver around the yard? Here, we consider how the hose stacks up against the myriad other options on the market.

Setup Process: Simple

There is nothing special to the setup of this hose. We simply removed the twist cords holding it in its coil as well as the cardboard packaging and twisted the brass fitting onto our water source.

We found it similarly simple to attach the other end of the hose to universal spray nozzles and sprinklers (no accessories were included in the package). The hardest part was carrying around the rather hefty hose and then draining away the water and stowing it when we were done.

Design: Classic but durable

This hose measures 5/8-inch in diameter and 50 feet in length. Constructed of commercial-grade, abrasion-resistant rubber and fitted with crush-proof, corrosion-resistant brass couplers, this hose is designed to withstand all weather. That includes temperatures from well below freezing to well over 150 degrees. The manufacturer also contends that the design is kink-resistant, but we did not find that to be true.

It’s important to note that while many models are advertised as kink-free or kink-resistant, this claim is somewhat unrealistic: Just about every hose will kink at times. The key is to be on the lookout for a model that does it less often. However, due to this one’s weight, we found it’s pretty prone to the problem.

This hose only comes in one color—black—which we didn’t mind, but if you’d rather go with green or another shade, there are other options out there.

Performance: Average

This hose performs all the expected jobs without leaking. We tested with a variety of water pressures, and it stayed strong and durable. It’s also suitable for leaving outside in the elements, and we found that it retained flexibility in colder weather.

Where it suffers is its excess weight. The ContiTech hose comes in at 12 pounds; comparable counterparts on the market are several pounds lighter, averaging around 8-10 pounds. A few pounds may not seem like much, but if your outdoor chores require dragging a hose around the yard, you will most likely be wishing for a lighter model.

The heftier poundage also made coiling the hose much more difficult for us. It easily bends and twists, which was frustrating and made simple watering tasks balloon into a full-blown headache.

Price: Weigh your options

This product retails around $30. The typical range for a similar 50-foot, 5/8-inch diameter rubber hose is from $30 to $35, so the Continental ContiTech model is on the more economical side. And it comes with the added benefit of a limited lifetime warranty, which made us feel more secure in our purchase.

However, as noted above, you are buying a few extra pounds of hose to lug around and untangle. We’d be willing to spend a few extra dollars on a lighter, more kink-resistant design in the future.

Competition: Plenty of lighter models to choose from

Briggs & Stratton Premium Heady-Duty Rubber Garden Hose: This 50-foot product costs around $33 and weighs 10.6 pounds, so it’s lighter than the ContiTech. This model is designed to lay flat and recoil easily, but some users complain that it does not hold up as well in hot weather and can leave a tar-like residue on the hands after use.

Giraffe Garden Hose: The Giraffe Garden Hose is also a 5/8-inch, 50-foot model that retails around $35. Like others on the market, this garden hose is designed for high durability, flexibility, and strong burst strength. The Giraffe Garden model’s biggest selling point is its lighter weight, coming in at a mere 7.58 pounds, which users love as it makes it that much easier to tote around the yard.