The right hose

25 November 2011

It was tough to come up with a title for this post that didn't sound like a double entendre!

Making sure we can get fresh water is very high on our list of priorities, so having the right hose is essential. It has to be robust, safe for drinking water and long enough to get water from the tap to the bus.

Until now we have carried two garden hoses - one that copes with most situations and an extra piece for when more length is called for. The trouble is these take up a lot of room. The only place they fit was in the engine bay - and the heat from the engine is a problem if they're not stowed just right. In fact both hoses are quite a bit shorter than they used to be, as Craig has trimmed off the melted bits.

Now our search for a better hose has been rewarded by the discovery of the 'handi-hose'. It is 15m long, rolls flat onto a reel and is safe for drinking water. It takes up so little room it doesn't even need to go in the engine bay, fitting into our power cord storage instead.

It does have a couple of disadvantages, neither of which were deal-breakers. You have to unwind the whole 15m even if you're only 4m from the tap, and it has to be laid right out as any kinks will stop the water flow.

Rolled up into a handy package that weighs less than 3kg.

Filling time, with the hose carefully laid out to avoid kinks.

We got our hose from Foxton RV Accessories and it cost just under $100. There are a couple of other stockists in NZ as well.