I think unlike most on here I use my extractor for several hours each day on site, even so it took me years and years to even buy Festool hoses preferring the MUCH cheaper 32mm x 5m Trend non as grey hose (which perfectly fits the extractors) which retailed at £40.
After years and hundreds of frustrated incidents of static and kinking I finally relented and bought some 36mm and 36/32mm hose (28mm is too small for general on site use for me) so far I haven't looked back.
After further months of tangled hose and cables I started using velcro ties, which was good, but time consuming if you use the extractor and change tools as much as I do, then finally on this very site someone mentioned this
https://www.techflex.com solution, which is a brilliant solution.
So far I have only done a 3.5m x 36/32mm which I use for my power screeder and edge sander and I bought the Festool 3.5m x 28/22mm sleeved hose for my Rotex/ETS and jigsaw and again so far I haven't looked back.
I just recently bought the 10m sleeved hose which I haven't used yet, for stairs and busy site areas where I can put the CTL in another room and a 7m x 36/32mm hose that I will convert to an industrial euro plug/sleeved hose combo for longer reach on my edger and screeder for larger/commercial jobs.
It's classic Festool, yes the price is high, yes the price is higher than it should be and yes they only can get away with that because no one else makes them and yes once you have actually bitten the bullet you could never imagine going back and marvel how you coped without the feature for so long.
Yes it's Festool's fault for overcharging us just as much as it's the rest of the worlds fault for not having the intelligence or imagination to come up with some of the worlds best engineering solutions. If you want the best, you normally have to pay for it.
I wished Festool would come out with a 7m x36/32mm version but I suspect didn't do so for risk of being sued for all the sticker price related heart attacks that would of ensued. Once over the hump on hose purchases I would of bought one, the 28/22mm diameter is great for the smaller machines but for heavy onsite use I have found I need a larger diameter.
I can't say it's a no brainer because the tech flex solution is perfectly adequate and economical if you want to convert several hoses but for me I am very happy with my 3.5m version.
As with all my tools I like to spend as little as possible whilst getting the absolute best tool for the job, that has meant me trying almost every dual action and random orbital sander for a total of several thousand hours over several years before actually buying a Rotex and, apart from the very uncomfortable selector switch on the sander head I can't really fault it.
Ditto the sleeved hose. I tried absolutely everything to avoid buying the Festool version but years later after countless iterations of lesser solutions I went the full Festool.
Sometimes there is only one perfect solution and sometimes that is Festool, for me that is one of those times and I use my extractor for dozens of hours per week.
