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Monday, July 8, 2013

Road Test

Actually, it’s a product test.

I’m always looking for a better mousetrap, or a new product that will work great and be easy to use.  I’ve seen the ads on TV for this product and it seemed a little too good to be true.  The Pocket Hose.

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But it did seem to have some good points.  I looked at one at Walmart, and decided to try it.  Twenty bucks (plus tax) and I had a fifty foot hose in my hands.

I primarily bought the hose due to its light weight and fifty foot length.  I intend to use it when washing our Journey.  So today was the “acid test”

The hose is tucked tightly in plastic container.  (Sorry for the bad picture, don’t know why it is so foggy).

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This is the hose removed from its container.

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First the warning notice, including “Not for drinking”.

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It expanded just like it was shown on TV.  It has a shut off ball valve at the end where you can put it into a nozzle.  The valve worked fine, but the fitting leaked where it screwed in to the nozzle.  I changed out the rubber washer in my nozzle, but it still leaked a little.  It wasn’t too bad because the leaking water kept me cool on a very hot day.

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The hose is very light and easy to handle.  In fact, I was able to coil it up when I didn’t need the entire fifty foot length and it stayed nice and neat.

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When I drained the hose, it did shrink back to a smaller size, but not quite the size they showed on TV.

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I was able to gather it up and get it back in the original container.  That’s impressive, even if it didn’t look quite as neat as when I first opened the container.

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I used the hose on the Journey, starting with the roof.  It’s been over a year since I washed the roof and it really needed attention.  I used to wash the roof at least two to three times a year when we had our house.  Since most campgrounds don’t allow washing RVs, the roof had to be postponed.  Fortunately, the campground here requires you to wash your rig twice a year, they have many long term RVs here.  Who am I not to take advantage of this requirement?

Up on the roof, I used Spic and Span.  It works really good on the little black spots and dirt that covers the roof.  (My roof is fiberglass).

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For the real tough spots, I hit it with a little Awesome cleaner, available at most Dollar Stores for, what else?  A dollar.

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The roof was really dirty.

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You can see the difference with a little scrubbing.

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An hour later the roof was…Spic and Span!

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After lunch, I washed the rest of the Journey, now it’s looking good and I’m happy.

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The Pocket Hose worked pretty good.  I liked that it was very light and easy to use.  It didn’t kink like many hoses do.  The inside diameter looks like it’s 3/8”, narrow.  Because of that, it didn’t have much volume, but it worked just fine for vehicle washing.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with it.  It works as advertised and is lightweight, doesn’t kink and does shrink down to a small size for easy storage.  Aside from the leak at the one connecter, I didn’t find any serious downsides with it.  I think the leaking connector is probably just on my hose.  Again, it wasn’t a huge leak, so I’m not complaining.

As to how long it will last, if I get a year out if it, I’ll be happy.  The bigger question:  Would I buy it again?  For what I’ll use this hose for, the answer is YES.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

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20 comments:

  1. Too bad you can't use it for the fresh water but the no drinking part kind of ruins that. But it's great to see this review because we look at them every time we go to Walmart.

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  2. I have been wondering if the hose was to good to be true. It sounds useful and would be great if it was safe for drinking water.

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  3. Thanks for the report Paul. I've been eyeing that hose for awhile. Now if they'd make one for fresh water they would have something.

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  4. I've also been looking at that hose and wondering if it really worked. Thanks for the review.

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  5. If you want to do some more testing, feel free to wash our rig.

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  6. Looks like you've been a good little guinea pig for all of us, Paul. Thanks, I've seen those as well and thought they were some kind of gimmick but I'll pick one up just for washing the rig.

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  7. we have a hose just like that. We haven't used it much but we have it and it's connected right now. We're not only mooch-docking, we're mooching their water too. We would buy it again too because it fits in a very small space.

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  8. We wondered how it worked too. Thanks for the pre-testing :) The roof looks great too!

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  9. Keep us posted when you have a chance to use it for an extended period of time. The biggest complaint of users has been that they leak.

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  10. We've also considered that hose as well. Everyone I have spoken to that has one, likes them. I don't want to spend $20 on a hose that leaks though. I think I would have returned the leaky one. I think we'll end up getting one as well.

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  11. Thanks for the review ... we've been looking at it, but Mui wasn't convinced. Once his brain shifts from the chassis information currently filling it, he'll read your review.

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  12. I have a similar hose that squishes flat and is lightweight. Have been using it for 6 years. it gets a leak every year or so, near the nozzle so I cut a foot or so off and good to go again. When it gets too short will get the Walmart one.

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  13. great review on your new 'hose purchase'..even better that it actually fit inside the original container after you used it!

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  14. Now don't wear that hose out before we meet again. ;)

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  15. Cool beans- I have looked at those might have to invest in one.

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  16. Wow what a change in your roof. If I get one of those hoses, will mine look like that? I guess I'll have to get in line behind Judy though. Since I don't watch TV I hadn't seen this ad. Interesting that Tyler is stumbling on a lot of blogs today or at least yours and mine so far.

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    1. I deleted him, he's found a new way to spam. I found him on a bunch of the blogs I read.

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  17. Does it really fit in your pocket, and why would you want to put a leaky hose in your pocket? ;-)

    The roof looks great. Amazing how dirty RV roofs can get. Nice that you were required to wash your rig since you've been wanting to do it anyway.

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  18. It's interesting to see those "Advertised on TV" items. It looks like a great little hose, and it sure helped you clean your RV roof (looks great clean by the way). :-)

    I've been tempted to by this net thingy that hold with magnets to your door. I did know one guy who used it on his Class A, but it looked kind of flimsy.

    One thing I do have is one of those metal wallets to hold all your credit cards, etc... It does hold a lot of cards and I don't have that much money to put in it anyway! ;-)

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  19. I need a roof washing fairy with a new hose! Wanna volunteer?

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