About to buy a 50 foot drinking hose and seeing some HORRIBLE Amazon reviews. What has worked for you?

[Ronbrink]

10 hours ago, jd1923 said:

I would not have an 1/2” ID hose. It’s like having a built in water restrictor!

You want 5/8” with 3/4” fittings, min. Commercial hoses are 3/4” end-to-end. Per Ron, get the gray if you gotta have this brand!

Since the 1/2” hose is only used for washing/cleaning, it is fitted with an adjustable spray nozzle which provides adequate stream volume for its purpose. To ensure max pressure, I have a ‘Y’ fitting at the spigot, thereby enabling full CG water pressure for this setup and use of a typical water pressure regulator valve for the Oliver’s water supply. You are correct however, in recommending the larger diameter hoses where max volume is of more benefit to the need. That said, it is important to use larger diameter fittings to prevent flow restrictions; ELEY commercial duty hose QC sets are 3/4” full-flow and designed for standard 3/4” GHT hoses, faucets and watering tools. Here’s a pic of my spigot and Oliver connections. 

[Ronbrink]

On 7/21/2025 at 10:24 AM, Teaney Hull 292 said:

About to buy a 50 foot drinking hose and seeing some HORRIBLE Amazon reviews. What has worked for you? 

Thanks

Gary

Hull 292

You would be better off buying two 25’ hoses, most CG spigots are near the campsite. You can then connect the two if a longer length is needed. When storing my “drinking” hoses, I connect to ends to ensure cleanliness next use.

[Patriot]

@Teaney Hull 292

Gary, 

When all else fails….😄

 

[mossemi]

@Patriot

It looks like you had all of the latest technologies growing up! 😉

Mossey

[johnwen]

34 minutes ago, mossemi said:

@Patriot

It looks like you had all of the latest technologies growing up! 😉

Mossey

Mike,

I got me one of those after Hurricane Hugo...worked great until the next hurricane came along (7 years later) and hooked it back up on top of the pipe.  That's when I found out about the leather gasket.  Dried and shriveled and beyond repair!

John

[Galileo]

On 7/23/2025 at 8:38 PM, jd1923 said:

I would not have an 1/2” ID hose. It’s like having a built in water restrictor!

Unless you can engineer and build your water system with large-bore plumbing end-to-end, the 1/2” ID hose isn’t going to affect your water flow much - if at all. 

The typical “hose Bibb” all of us hook up to a campgrounds are usually of the style shown in the attached picture - with an internal restriction of about 1/3” - so using a half inch diameter hose isn’t gonna slow down you water flow.

If you look at your household plumbing, you almost certainly have 1/4” supply lines to your sinks and toilets. It doesn’t matter if your PEX, PVC, Copper, or galvanized iron piping is 3/8”, 1/2”, or even 3/4” - it all goes through those 1/4” supply lines before it hits the faucet. Most aerators and shower heads have far smaller offices - like 1/8”. 

Back when we had the farm, I replaced all the hose bibs with 3/4” ball valves and GHT adapters. I wanted my irrigation systems to have maximum flow. For that matter, I also liked to be able to fill a 5 gallon bucket (which small farms are built around) in under a minute. In that case, a 1/2” hose would be the choke point.

With RVs, we don’t wanna have a lot of flow. Our holding tanks are the limiting factor. 

Unless you’ve reworked your water system, I’m pretty sure the piping in the Oliver is all 1/2” PEX. So there’s your restriction. 

I suppose inquiring minds who just gotta know for themselves, try an experiment by timing how long it takes to fill a bucket with a 1/2” vs a 3/4” hose. Unless you’re attached to a spigot with a ball valve (and no choke points upstream) I’ll bet your fill times will be virtually the same regardless of your hose. 

The case FOR the 1/2” hose is that 50 feet of 1/2 hose is smaller and lighter than 50 feet of 3/4” hose. In the world of having to tote stuff with you - that’s a bigger deal than flow rate.

[Teaney Hull 292]

On 7/24/2025 at 8:57 AM, Ronbrink said:

You would be better off buying two 25’ hoses, most CG spigots are near the campsite. You can then connect the two if a longer length is needed. When storing my “drinking” hoses, I connect to ends to ensure cleanliness next use.

I took your advice and bought 2 25 footers. 

Thanks

Gary

[Teaney Hull 292]

On 7/24/2025 at 9:44 AM, mossemi said:

@Patriot

It looks like you had all of the latest technologies growing up! 😉

Mossey

My Grandmother had one like this. I learned how to prime the pump at an early age. 

[Teaney Hull 292]

On 7/21/2025 at 2:23 PM, jd1923 said:

Keep in mind, flat hoses and other compact hoses recommended do not work for filling the fresh tank via the boondocking port. Something we do often, filling from our extra 35-gal fresh tank in the pickup bed. When pulling water by suction you need a rigid hose, one that will NOT shrink or flatten.

We go with the standard Camco hose. 35 ft is what's needed to get from our truck to the boondocking inlet when hitched. I had a 25' hose so purchased a 10' hose which is great alone when we have water hookup at a campground. They are firm and many complain about rolling them up. I roll in big loops and it fits in the Oliver Trunk and unwinds nicely. Good reviews on this Amazon item:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-TastePURE-Heavy-Duty-Construction-22843/dp/B004VHXS20/?th=1

Thanks

Gary

[jd1923]

37 minutes ago, Galileo said:

The typical “hose Bibb” all of us hook up to a campgrounds are usually of the style shown in the attached picture...

We generally see more of the frost-proof hydrant style (an example pictured below) which do not have these restricting smaller orifices. I have seen some launch water 30 feet though the air, even through our filter system which also has 3/4" fittings. I've measured over 5 GPM flow rates at many campsites, but I've seen as bad as 0.5 GPM rates at others, waiting forever to fill our FWT!

We fill the fresh tank and run from the fresh tank since we are more often boondocking and are not used to using the City Water connection. We just want to fill the empty FWT quickly!

I promise you, the fresh tank can be filled faster with a greater diameter hose at many hookups. Also, our 35-gallon extra tank onboard the TV has 3/4" ID fittings at the tank outlet. If I was to draw water with a 1/2" hose it would take considerably longer. 50 feet of 1/2" hose will create more back-pressure, working the pump harder, than a single point orifice or the 5 ft of 1/2 plumbing internal to the Oliver to the pump.

And if I was to try the hoses suggested here that compress or flatten, pulling water through the boondocking inlet would not work at all! 🤣 Nice and handy, just not usable for our needs!