Reply by TroutStalker

Jesse,

I have the Rockler expandable hose and, in general, I’m pretty happy with it. I’ve had it for about 18 months and haven’t had any problems with the hose. To answer your questions:

1. Yes, the end fitting can be removed.
2. No it doesn’t really collapse back to 3’ long. Well, you can if you take the time to push it into place. I don’t I just let it lay on the floor.
3. I haven’t had any splits. However I can see some wear near the end of the hose where it attaches to the tool. I think it’s caused by my planer, a DW 735. The DC connection to the planer is situated in such a way that the board rubs against the hose as it exits the planer. I plan to rig up something to hold the hose up away from the board and that should solve the problem.
4. Yes. I use the quick connect devices that Rockler sells and they work fine.

One thing to watch out for is the length of hose you buy. I have a 15’ x 19’ shop. I bought the 20’ hose thinking it would be fine. However, getting it to stretch all the way across the long dimension of the shop is very difficult. I’d advise taking the hose length with a grain of salt.

-- The best thing online is a fish