Rapid Reel
This is a heavy-duty cast aluminum garden hose reel. It costs about twice as much as the plastic reel I replaced and is at least four times the quality and longevity. The materials used are thick cast aluminum, powder-coated, with real stainless steel fasteners and brass fittings. The fittings and bearings are replaceable and heavy duty. The term bulletproof comes to mind.
The reel is configurable as a parallel or perpendicular mount with either a right or left hand hose mount. The design is modular and well thought out. Even the included hex wrenches are well thought out and long enough to reach easily and are of high quality. As a mechanical designer myself, I am able to appreciate a nice robust design and execution.
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Rapid Reel
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A cool tool is anything useful that is superior to comparable items. If you think this tool is inferior suggest a better one. You are welcome to insult a tool, but comments containing insults to individual people will be deleted. Corrections of fact are always welcomed, if stated politely. Recommendations of better tools are dearly wanted and may be elevated to the front page.
rob
oh reely?
EyePulp
Rats. I was totally beaten to the punch on submitting this. I second all the comments of Jack K. I finally bought this 4 months ago, and it's a stellar bit of yard kit. I also got the spindle extension kit which lets you put a ridiculous amount of hose on the thing, and it really is built like a tank.
Consider buying directly from the company - the pricing & shipping were comparable to Amazon (at the time I got it). Amazon was out of stock when I was ready to buy, so I called Rapid Reel on a Tuesday - they too were out of stock, but said they had a shipment coming in that Friday that they would then send out for the following week. Not sure what happened, but I got the Reel on Friday, with no extra shipping costs. All in all a great customer experience before the box even arrived.
christopher
Hose coiled in a contractor bucket. Cheap, doesn't need to be bulletproof, eminently portable, additional use as water store.
Hans
Thanks, this will come in handy! I inherited a bunch of plastic reels that are falling to pieces. And the offensive thing is that you can not really fix plastic.
Andrew Pollack
We use something VERY similar to this at the fire station for the regular household style hose we use to clean the trucks. Ours is bigger, heavier, and probably 40 years old, but the idea is the same and its a really nice way to go.
I'll definitely put this link in my follow-up folder.
MikeKDidit
I own a Rapid Reel 4-wheel cart. Same concept as the one you have shown except that mine is mobile (4-wheel cart) and it holds about twice as much hose. It is the kind of cart you see in use at golf courses. I just completed Summer #2 with mine. Very awesome! The coolest part is that it never tips over. Until July of this year (2009), I was the biggest Rapid Reel fan around -- in fact I also bought one for my Dad. So, what happened in July? They laid off their manufacturing team (7 people) and outsourced to China. Made in the USA is the reason I chose to pay a sizeable premium for a Rapid Reel vs. the inferior quality version from Sam's. In my book, it is a very sad day when a "family" business that makes premium priced products takes the layoff route.
mawaru
Hey if anybody is getting this from Amazon and its out of stock, you can monitor when Amazon restocks by camping out here http://www.watchmyitems.com/?item=B0025ZHV3W You can add it in other accessories you want to get that is out of stock too. Happy fishing everyone!