Ballast hose, what's the best?
 

Looking for some opinions on ballast hose. While winterizing this year I had multiple points of failure in the existing hose. I am going to rip it all out this spring. The hose I had was the clear plastic with the wire band through it. I don't want that again so looking at options. What have you guys used?

Marine grade oil hose is very durable and heavy duty. It should last a few decades. It is harder to work with due to the HD construction. Heat and lube are typically needed to get it over barbed fittings.

Braided 1". Has held up for 7 yrs and takes the bends withouy crimping

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The hose that your boat was plumbed with is not designed for the marine environment. I like the black ballast/bilge OEM style hose. It is cheap, in most applications it works perfectly and lasts a long time. If you have a tight radius try and use a little extra so that there is not as much of a tendency for the hose to kink. Should last the lifetime of the boat this time. 1" Ballast Hose 3/4" Ballast Hose

ive had good luck with the hose wakemakers sells.

I bought some of the Wakemakers 1" hose. Haven't installed it yet but it feels like a quality product.

I used the white spa hose from Lowe's. Very durable and wont kink. For the sake of time during the install, I would recommend a heat gun to warm it up before installing fittings.

I'd recommend something other than spa hose. I used it originally and now wish I hadn't. It's very stiff and hard to work with. It's also very difficult if not impossible to remove from fittings. I've swapped some of the original stuff I used with the black ribbed hose and I had to cut the spa hose out because it wouldn't come off on it's own. I think the ribbed black stuff is much, much better. Doesn't kink but also pliable enough to work with. That would be my recommendation.

Sounds like the black stuff is the way to go! The spa hose is tough to work with.

It's all Spa hose, same exact stuff, only difference is the color. I have both some from the hardware store and some from wakemakers, it is exactly the same hose. You do need to heat it up to soften to get on and off the fittings otherwise it will split. In the area's you run it, nobody will see it, but I prefer the black as it looks factory and the cost is not that much different.

so it comes down to color? interesting.