Effects of overbent/kinked braided hoses

[OrionRising]

Hey guys,

I‘m new to the forum and relatively new when it comes to braided hoses. I‘ve always been diving with rubber hoses and never got my hand on braided ones.
I have a question regarding the durability of those flex hoses. I've just got a new XTX 200 and XTX 40 Octo from Apeks and slightly overbent the unpressurized Apeks flex hose of the octo so it would fit into a (as it later turned out) too small of a D ring (stupid mistake). It slightly overbent/kinked it.

Does bending it one time like this break something inside braided hose? Now I’ve done this multiple times with rubber hoses and never had any issue, also I can visually inspect them before and after. After inspecting and touching the braided hose externally, it looks absolutely normal and unaffected. Before my next dive trip, I’m going to do a pressure test.

But apart from that how would you know in what state the internal material of a braided hose is? I mean you can’t really look inside. How durable are they - they are often advertised as being more durable and flexible than rubber ones, but they are still different in many ways.

Are there any standards such as EAN 250 for cold water tests that would give us more clues as to what forces/abuse they can/should withstand? I’ve seen videos of people bending it to such an extent that it cuts off the air supply - this can't be healthy for the hose. Thanks for your help clarifying my concerns...

 

[scrane]

I pass a folded over rubber hose through a D ring to keep my octopus secure. Many people would recommend against this practice, but it has always worked for me. I would not do so with a braided hose. I would not trust a braided hose that kinked passing double through a D ring and would replace it with a rubber hose.

 

[OrionRising]

Hey thanks for the clarification. I think though most likely it‘s okay, as I didn‘t fit it in completely and the time was very short and bent wasn‘t too bad. I‘ll know more when I do a pressure test. I guess I‘m more curious as to how much abuse such a hose would be able to endure. I’m surprises that I didn’t find a lot of information about it online. I‘ve seen very bad hose maintenance and care at some dive schools (bent, leaked, cracked hoses still in use) which makes me wonder to what extent these braided hoses are tested.

Knowing that rubber hoses as you described are very flexible and tough, bending a rubber hose like this or even twisting it won‘t do any damage at least short-term. Of course, if you‘ll bend it like a 100 or 500 times under extreme stress like that it might lead to fatigue and cracks.

Now braided hoses are always advertised as being tougher and more flexible than rubber ones, yet apart from these very unspecific general terms we hardly know how much more they can withstand eg. in comparison to rubber ones. Even the material being used is different, which means that a braided hose from different manufacturers can have completely different characteristics.

 

[happy-diver]

Your braided hose is the same as your rubber hose, without the rubber

and remember to kink your hose if you ever happen to have a freeflow