Goodbye Traditional Garden Hoses: There's A Lightweight Alternative From Amazon

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Wrangling water hoses is a necessary part of gardening, but tangles and heavy materials can be extremely frustrating to manage. And if your water source is far away from the garden, you may need a 100-foot hose, which could weigh ~20 pounds, depending on the material — further complicating the management of this essential gardening tool. However, one possible solution could be to get a lightweight hose, such as the Teknor Apex Zero-G 100-Foot Garden Hose, available on Amazon for $69.98.

The Zero-G hose weighs 8.4 pounds when empty, so less than half of what a hose of equal length could be. It has a ⅝-inch exterior diameter, and it can handle up to 600 psi of water pressure. It is not an expandable hose; it does not expand or retract. Its main feature is that it's lightweight, and it's flexible.

As of this writing, the Zero-G has an overall rating of 4.2 stars out of five, from over 9,140 reviews. Seventy-one percent of reviewers have given the hose five stars, with another 11% giving it four, for a total of 82%. For 14% of Amazon reviewers, however, the Zero-G scores one or two stars. In addition to the 100-foot length, the Zero-G hose is also available in two other sizes: 25 feet and 50 feet.

Anyone who finds it difficult to lift, carry, pull, or uncoil a regular hose into position would likely benefit from using a lightweight hose. For older gardeners, in particular, finding a hose that's easy to manage is important, as this allows them to continue doing outdoor work at any age. Similarly, a lightweight design would make it easier for kids to help out with gardening tasks as well.

In addition to the 100-foot Zero-G weighing less than 9 pounds, it's also designed to be flexible to move about, even in cold weather. Teknor Apex says the hose can work in temperatures as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit. So, if you live in California, Hawaii, or the southern part of the United States, this hose should work year-round. (See the best types of hoses to use in cool winter weather.)

Even with a lightweight hose, at 100 feet long, the chances are a user may find it easier to pull the hose from its water source to its target, and in doing so, drag it across different surfaces, including rough ones like concrete or uneven landscaping. To such treatment, customers happy with their Zero-G hoses claim that their product has survived. One reviewer, for example, said that they've "dragged it [the Zero-G] through the yard, on pavers, through wire fence ..." but that after six years, they have experienced "no leaking."

The Zero-G's construction features a woven fiber jacket on the outside, and a Tru-Flex™ inner core, which is meant to prevent kinking. The product says that it's "kink-resistant," not "kink-free," which is a distinction some customers make in their review. In a previously mentioned five-star review, for example, the user explained that to mitigate kinking, which they say can happen, turn the water (pressure) on first.

On the topic of kinking, there are over 500 customer reviews that mention it, with about half being from five-star reviews, and a quarter being from one-star reviews. One of these one-star reviews says that the Zero-G needs to be stretched as straight as possible first in order to avoid kinking, and that the result of not doing so is "unbending all the folds along the 100' length." Another customer shared their similar experience: "It constantly kinks itself and I am constantly walking the 100 feet back to fix it."

One other common topic for any garden hose is, of course, leaks. Though an earlier reviewer said they've seen no leaks after six years of use, not all Zero-G customers report the same. Nearly 600 customer reviews mention the topic, with about 15% of them being five-star reviews; the majority are from one-star reviews (nearly 60%). One reviewer shared that they found a leak after less than a week; specifically, where the hose connects to the spigot, while the sprayer side was "fine."

Another one-star reviewer reported a spigot leak after two months, but also said they liked the Zero-G and would give it another try: "The leak is near the spigot, so it was not mishandled (driving over it, cutting with a lawn mower, etc.) I liked it enough to buy a second one. I'll see what happens to that one."