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Head-to-head · Best Garden Hoses

Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft. vs Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose, 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

Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft. comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.7 vs 4.5). The gap is mostly about Gardeners who need a non-standard run length or a second diameter, and who want a rubber hose that lives outdoors year-round without UV cracking — read the strengths below before deciding.

Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
Higher ratedRanked #2 in Best Garden Hoses
Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
4 sources$79.95

Dramm's answer to kinking is geometric rather than chemical: the ColorStorm is extruded in a hexagonal Sure-Grip profile instead of a round one. Good Housekeeping's lab named it best overall after stomping on the fittings, TechGearLab gave it 86 out of 100 and a Top Pick, and Gardening Products Review scored it 5 out of 5 after a season outdoors with no UV damage. Wirecutter, though, dropped it as a pick over long-term kinking and price. At 10 lb for 50 feet it is a hose for a reel, not a hand.

Strengths
  • — Good Housekeeping's Home Improvement Lab named it best overall, reporting the crush-free fitting claim held up under deliberate stomping
  • — TechGearLab scored it 86 out of 100 with a Top Pick, and Gardening Products Review gave it a straight 5 out of 5
  • — Hexagonal Sure-Grip profile rather than a round one, which every outlet credited for its kink behaviour and its grip
Watch-outs
  • — Wirecutter dropped it as a pick over "a combination of long-term kinking issues and the newly elevated price tag"
  • — Gardening Products Review's own long-term update concedes it "started to experience occasional kinking" after several years
  • — Heavy: 10 lb for 50 feet, which Good Housekeeping warned "might be more trouble than it's worth" on a small property
$79.95 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose, 50 ft
Ranked #3 in Best Garden Hoses
Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose, 50 ft
3 sources$113.23

Two outlets that test hoses for a living rate this the best one made. Wirecutter calls it their upgrade pick and reports more than two years of near-daily use without being able to make it kink, plus the fastest bucket-fill time they measured at 55 seconds. TechGearLab scored it 89 out of 100, the highest in their twelve-hose test, with 9.0 for construction. Eley backs it with a ten-year no-leak warranty and a -40 to 165 degrees F range. It costs $113.23, weighs 0.15 lb per foot, and comes in one unlovely grey.

Strengths
  • — Wirecutter's upgrade pick and, in their words, "the best hose we've ever tested" after more than two years of near-daily use without a single kink
  • — Highest score TechGearLab recorded in a twelve-hose test at 89 out of 100, including 9.0 for construction quality
  • — Filled a five-gallon bucket in 55 seconds in Wirecutter's flow test, the fastest hose they timed
Watch-outs
  • — $113.23 for 50 feet, which Wirecutter notes is a little over twice the cost of a comparable rubber hose
  • — Only one colour, and a Wirecutter tester's reaction on seeing it was "that thing is kinda ugly"
  • — TechGearLab measured 0.15 lb per foot and listed "heavy" as one of only two cons
$113.23 · Buy at eleyhosereels.comFull review →

How they stack up

Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

The ColorStorm is the length-flexibility answer in this group: it is the only hose here orderable in custom runs to 330 feet and in two diameters, where the Teknor Apex zero-G stops at 100 feet and the Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose at 200 feet in one bore. It is also among the heaviest of the six per foot. Against the Briggs & Stratton 8BS50, the other all-rubber hose here, the difference is the hex profile: TechGearLab scored the Dramm well ahead on performance and faulted the Briggs specifically for kinking.

Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose, 50 ft

The Eley posted the highest raw score in TechGearLab's test, ahead of the Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose and the Teknor Apex zero-G, and it carries the longest published warranty of any hose here at ten years. It is also the most expensive by a wide margin and roughly twice the weight per foot of the zero-G. Against the Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 and the Stanley FatMax BDS6650, both of which testers got to kink, the Eley's stiff polyurethane wall is the entire point: it bends into wide loops instead of folding shut.

Specs side-by-side

SpecDramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose, 50 ft
Diameter5/8 in5/8 in (0.875 in OD)
Length50 ft50 ft
MaterialEPDM rubber, hexagonal Sure-Grip cover, 15% thicker wallReinforced polyurethane, non-marking cover
Coupling MaterialCrush-proof nickel-plated brass, hexLead-free forged brass, crush-proof, hex
Working Pressure130 PSI150 PSI
Burst Pressure518 PSI450 PSI minimum at 75 degrees F
Weight10 lb7 lb dry, 14 lb filled
Temperature RangeFlexible to -25 degrees F, hot-water rated to 160 degrees F-40 to 165 degrees F
Available Lengths50, 75, 100 ft plus custom to 330 ft6.5, 12, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 ft
WarrantyLifetime consumer guarantee10-year no-leak, no-fail
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