Alex said:
The 27 and 36 mm hoses are a European standard that fit almost any brand over here. Maybe if you live somewhere else around the world you need different sizes, but that's not Festool's fault I think.
Alex, I have multiple Festo/ol hoses in 27, 36 & 50mm. Maybe a dozen or so I'm guessing. NONE fit many of my euro-sourced tools: Elu, Bosch, Metabo, Mirka, DeWalt, Atlas Copco, Eisenblaetter etc. Some do fit, of course, but I've had to cobble together adaptors on innumerable occasions to use my Festo/Wap & Festo/Kraenzle vacs.
Yes, those 2 mentioned sizes DO represent some type of "Euro Standard" sizing in terms of floor tools, suction tubes & nozzles in the "standard" 35mm size (sometimes inside the pipe/s, sometimes outside), but they def. don't fit many non-Festools. They don't even easily fit all Festools either: the hand blocks for instance, which I believe are actually Mirka products, which benefit from a screw-fitted! more flexible, smaller & lighter 21.5mm x 5M non-a/s hose. Part no. 495019.
I've had great success using a few turns of tape around the end of an old-style Metabo/Bosch 19mm x 5m (3/4" x 16' 3") hose with 30/35mm rigid end fittings. Metabo part no. 631592000, Bosch part no. unknown.
This is easily temporarily modified to suit a variety of "stray" European-made tools: a nice, easy friction-secured push fit that on occasion requires a few turns of PVC insulating or maybe ducting tape for an airtight seal on the more recalcitrant varieties. An extremely flexible & lightweight hose that fits into the stainless Festool 36mm hose floor wand elbow's nozzle.
The downside is that the hose is so extremely lightweight that it's prone to squashing & kinking if roughly handled compared to more rigid "conventional" hose. But 5m up a ladder there's nothing better than a lightweight hose that doesn't drag you down. It's also prone to whistling at higher airflow velocities.
