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Head-to-head · Best Garden Hoses

Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft. vs Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft. comes out ahead by a clear margin (3.6 vs 4.4). The gap is mostly about Homeowners who drag a hose around the yard by hand every day and want the lightest thing that still survives being driven over — read the strengths below before deciding.

Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
Ranked #5 in Best Garden Hoses
Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
3 sources$53.92

The 8BS50 is a plain heavy rubber hose, and the two outlets that tested it disagree about how good that is. TechGearLab put it at 64 out of 100, tenth of twelve, faulting it for twisting, looping and weight, and framed it as a hose best left as a permanent fixture. Bob Vila backed a car over it, scored durability 5 out of 5 and gave it their best-rubber award. Both are describing the same object: a thick rubber wall with crush-proof nickel-plated brass couplings, no clever geometry, and enough mass that how you store it decides whether you like it.

Strengths
  • — TechGearLab liked the spray performance and found kinks roll out easily rather than creasing the hose
  • — Bob Vila scored durability 5 out of 5 and confirmed it withstood being driven over with no visible damage, and found no leaking at either end
  • — Crush-proof nickel-plated brass couplings with industrial-style reinforcing, at roughly half the price of the Eley
Watch-outs
  • — TechGearLab scored it 64 out of 100, tenth of twelve, with cons of "twists and loops easily, heavy"
  • — The heaviest hose in TechGearLab's lineup by absolute weight, at 19.1 lb for their 100-foot sample
  • — Bob Vila docked build quality to 3 out of 5 and noted it "does not have any grips for control" on the couplings
$53.92 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
Higher ratedRanked #4 in Best Garden Hoses
Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
5 sources$39.99

Two separate test teams named this the best garden hose they tried. Bob Vila's tester knotted it, pulled on it and drove over it before scoring durability, quality and couplings all 5 out of 5; The Spruce reached the same conclusion after testing more than 40 hoses and using this one almost daily for six months. TechGearLab weighed it at 0.08 lb per foot, gave it 83 out of 100 and an Editors' Choice. The dissent is real: Wirecutter tested it and passed, and its 35 degrees F floor is the worst here.

Strengths
  • — Named best overall by both Bob Vila and The Spruce, the latter after testing more than 40 hoses and running this one daily for six months
  • — TechGearLab measured 0.08 lb per foot, the lightest non-novelty hose in their twelve-model field
  • — Bob Vila knotted it, pulled on it and backed a car over it, then scored durability, quality and couplings all 5 out of 5
Watch-outs
  • — Rated only down to 35 degrees F, the worst cold-weather floor here; The Spruce flagged it explicitly
  • — TechGearLab found the water pressure "unusable" without a nozzle fitted, and no nozzle is included
  • — Wirecutter tested it and declined to make it a pick, writing that "nothing about it stood out enough"
$39.99 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →

How they stack up

Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

Against the Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, the other all-rubber hose here, the 8BS50 is the cheaper and worse-handling of the two: TechGearLab scored the Dramm well ahead on performance and traced the difference to Dramm's hexagonal profile. It is the heaviest hose in this guide by absolute weight. What it has over the Teknor Apex zero-G and the Flexzilla Garden Hose with SwivelGrip is a thick rubber wall that shrugged off a car tyre in Bob Vila's test, and unlike the Stanley FatMax BDS6650 nobody has reported it taking a permanent set.

Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

The zero-G is the lightest hose in this guide by a wide margin, at roughly a third of the Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose's weight per foot and well under half the Briggs & Stratton 8BS50's. It is also the cheapest of the six. Where it gives ground is temperature and choice: the Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose stays usable far below freezing and comes in ten lengths, while the zero-G is rated only for above-freezing use in three lengths and one diameter.

Specs side-by-side

SpecBriggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.Teknor Apex zero-G 4001-50 Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
Diameter5/8 in5/8 in
Length50 ft50 ft
MaterialRubber, industrial-style reinforcingTru-Flex inner core, G-Force woven fiber jacket
Coupling MaterialCrush-proof nickel-plated brassCrush-resistant, female brass threads
Weight10 lb; 0.19 lb/ft measured by TechGearLab0.08 lb/ft measured by TechGearLab
Available Lengths25, 50, 75, 100 ft25, 50, 100 ft
Model Number8BS50—
Nozzle IncludedNo—
Burst Pressure—600+ PSI
Minimum Temperature—35 degrees F
Lead Safe—CPSIA compliant
Warranty—5 years
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