One system, two diameters, and the washer that decides
Hose connectors, compared
Everything in a watering system meets at a connector, and this shelf is where compatibility is decided for the whole garden. Two dimensions do the work. The diameter is the hose it clamps onto — 13 mm (1/2"), 15 mm (5/8") and 19 mm (3/4") are the sizes these listings pair up — and a connector is usually sold for one or for two adjacent sizes. The thread is what screws onto the tap or the appliance, quoted in inches, and it is the other half of the same problem: a 26,5 mm (G 3/4) tap thread and a 33,3 mm (G 1) one both exist on domestic outdoor taps, and the adapter is the part everybody buys twice. The type column names what the piece actually is: a tap adapter, a quick coupling, a hose repairer that joins two cut ends, a Y-piece, or a water-stop coupling that closes when the hose is unplugged. That last one is the single most useful thing on this shelf and the one most often left out of a cheap set. The material divides the shelf sharply: plastic with a rubber seal, which is light and cheap and cracks in frost, or brass, which lasts and costs several times as much. And the pack, because these are sold in sets of two, four and ten, and a garden needs more of them than anyone expects. One system dominates: the quick-connect pattern Gardena made standard, which most other brands describe themselves as compatible with — a compatibility they state and this site reports. We compare thread, diameter, material, type and pack.
