How long do garden hoses last??

[ColinJ]

That has just reminded me that forgot open the tap on the end of the hose in my back yard before that recent freezing spell. I am pretty sure that the hose will be split as a result of my negligence...

Not in the first freezing spell...

I may have good news for you: this does not cause splits. (speaking from .... er ... many years of hard frost experience ... ) :P

I've just checked it - you are correct! Despite having been full of water and lying uncovered on paving slabs at or below freezing point for over a week, it is not leaking.

Yep. After the first freezing spell, the hose had NOT split!

Ho ho! The tiny split in the hose has probably been closed up by the way it was coiled. I bet that the next time I uncoil it to wash my bike it will start dribbling again.

Nope - after freezing spell #2, the hose had still not split.

We've found the plastic fittings to be much less weather/frost resistant; this hose has outlasted several sets!

But, as if jinxed by that post by @matticus...

Aaargh!!! (For that photo I three quarter-closed the tap that the hose is attached to. When I first turned the tap on, a big jet of water shot out of a crack in the side of the plastic fitting.)