Camco Rhinoflex Sewer Hose Review

I had to write a review on this particular hose as there are some details not mentioned anywhere online, and it nearly cost me a friendship (more of this later)…

Camco is a big US company that does make/sell several great products for the RV and Marine industry. If you go to their page, you can see that they have a large range of sewer hoses…

For the past 5 years, I have been using 2 of the Rhinoflex range hoses, (39764 in the single package or 39741 for the double), without having any trouble whatsoever, until a month ago when a terrible story unfolded right in front of my eyes. One of those stories, that makes you cry for how hard you laugh and yet, at the same time it puts your friendship in a very, very odd situation.

The Rhinoflex hose is very strong and well built and it comes with several accessories to help with the job of discharging your black/grey holding tanks. They are a metre long when compressed and 3 metres long when extended. They have male/female bayonet at each end, so that you can keep adding hose to your length required. Each end has a rubber seal to prevent any unwanted spill.

So far so good, and as long you take good care of them, they should last for years. But unfortunately there are two things that nobody do list on their description..

1) RhinoFLEX sewer hose is made of 23 mils of durable polyolefin and reinforced with steel wire

Here is problem number one. If you step on the hose, the steel wire will not return to its original shape and even if you try your hardest, it will always show the kink where it was bent. Not a big deal per se, but a problem when you try to store the hose away again as it will not stay in the folded position anymore…

2) Rhinoflex polyolefin, like most thermoplastics, is not UV resistant. Now this is not a problem if you, like the majority of people only use the hoses when needed to empty the tanks. Not enough time for the sun to have an effect on them. But if you leave them connected and in the sun as I did for the past 12 months, they will somehow destroy themselves… Let me tell you how I find out about it…

It just happened that last month Charlie and I went for a weekend away with Gigi. While out and about, I decided to empty the black water tank, as at the workshop, I only have the facility to discharge the grey water…

We stopped in Oakey at the dumping facility and while connecting the same hose that I normally use for the grey water, to the black tank, I’m telling Charlie that lots of people don’t like this part of the RV life. Then a huge mistake followed… I asked Charlie to hold the hose on the top of the dumping hole while I open the main gate valve…

The next scene is when I wet my pants…

I open the valve and the hose just exploded right about halfway, creating a two metres high tower of terror. Charlie very quickly did his best to jump away from the landing (lets called it chocolate), but unfortunately not quickly enough. I instantly shut the gate valve again, but the damage was done…

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I had just pooped on my friend legs…

Not really the best way to find out that the hoses are not UV treated and definitely not the best way to show your friends how easy it is to empty the tanks…

To this day, Charlie is having problems sleeping, and his camping experience has definitely changed for ever. I on the other hand, no longer leave the Rhinoflex sewer hoses in the sun, and I actually have moved to the next option, the Rhinoextreme (39867)…

RHINOEXTREME sewer hose has TPE technology that protects against pinholes and offers superior abrasion resistance and crush protection

Main difference is that does not use the steel wire, so hopefully no funny kinks even if you step on it. You still can’t leave them in the sun, for extended periods of time…

So, just to recap:

1. Great quality hoses, but not UV treated.
2. Get the Extreme one if you can as it should not kink or crush
3. And this is the most import one: Keep your friends away from those hoses!!!

I will add to this once I gain enough knowledge on the RhinoExtreme hoses…

PS

Thank you, Charlie, for allowing me to still be your friend and to learn such a valuable experience..