Head-to-head · Best Garden Hoses

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

Flexzilla Garden Hose with SwivelGrip, 5/8 in. x 50 ft. comes out ahead by a clear margin (3.6 vs 4.7). The gap is mostly about Anyone who connects and disconnects a hose constantly, or who has limited hand strength and wants a coupling that threads without fighting the hose — read the strengths below before deciding.

Ranked #5 in Best Garden Hoses

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

3.6

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 Amazon Full review →

Higher ratedRanked #1 in Best Garden Hoses

Flexzilla Garden Hose with SwivelGrip, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

4.7

5 sources$42.98

The SwivelGrip collar is the reason to buy this over the plain Flexzilla: a rotating sleeve at each end lets the coupling spin while the hose stays still, so threading onto a spigot does not wind a twist into the last few feet of hose. Gardening Products Review scored it 5 out of 5 and could not induce a kink under pressure across a long-term test. Bob Vila measured it at 8 lb for 50 feet, backed a car over it and made it their bang-for-the-buck pick. The reservations are a black surface film that will not wash off, a warranty with unrealistic return terms, and a hose that has to be depressurised before it will coil willingly.

Strengths

— The SwivelGrip collar lets each coupling turn independently of the hose, so connections thread on without winding up the hose behind them
— Gardening Products Review scored it 5 out of 5 and could not induce a kink under pressure across a long-term test
— Bob Vila measured it at 8 lb for 50 feet, drove a car over it, and scored build quality 5 out of 5

Watch-outs

— Has to be depressurised before coiling; Gardening Products Review found the hose "more difficult to coil" while it is still under pressure
— Develops a black surface coating that does not wash off, which Gardening Products Review flagged as an unresolved complaint with no clear cause
— The limited lifetime warranty requires shipping the entire hose back with proof of purchase and the original retail label, which Gardening Products Review called daunting terms

$42.98 · Check Price on Amazon Full 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.

Flexzilla Garden Hose with SwivelGrip, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.

The SwivelGrip collar is unique in this group: the Dramm ColorStorm Premium Rubber Hose and the Eley 5/8-Inch Polyurethane Garden Hose both use fixed hex fittings that want a wrench, while the Flexzilla threads on one-handed. At eight pounds for fifty feet it sits between the Teknor Apex zero-G and the rubber hoses, and unlike the zero-G it holds usable pressure with no nozzle fitted. Its published pressure ceiling matches the Eley's but falls well short of what the zero-G and the Stanley FatMax BDS6650 are rated for.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Briggs & Stratton 8BS50 Heavy-Duty Rubber Garden Hose, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.	Flexzilla Garden Hose with SwivelGrip, 5/8 in. x 50 ft.
Diameter	5/8 in	5/8 in
Length	50 ft	50 ft
Material	Rubber, industrial-style reinforcing	Flexible Hybrid Polymer
Coupling Material	Crush-proof nickel-plated brass	Crush-resistant anodized aircraft aluminum with rotating SwivelGrip sleeves
Weight	10 lb; 0.19 lb/ft measured by TechGearLab	8 lb
Available Lengths	25, 50, 75, 100 ft	3, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 ft
Model Number	8BS50	—
Nozzle Included	No	—
Working Pressure	—	150 PSI at 70 degrees F
Temperature Range	—	-40 to 140 degrees F
Drinking Water Safe	—	Yes
Warranty	—	Limited lifetime

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