Mending Hoses

For over a year now, I've had this awesome kink-free hose. The only problem is that I bought a cheapo nozzle and it calcified onto my rocking hose:

So one day the bf and I got fed up and snipped the damn thing off:

Then we slipped on a hose mender (which can be purchased at any hardware store):

We inserted the male part into the hose and put the loosened collar around the hose:

Then we pulled it up to the end of the hose and tightened it with a screwdriver:

But wait the fun doesn't stop there. To prevent the calcification (is that a word?) from happening again, we also installed hose quick connects (also available at any hardware store). One end goes on the hose and the other goes on the nozzle:

And then I installed my favorite hose nozzle back on:

And then hose away! Whee!

I've learned that not all hoses are created equal. Do yourself a favor and skip the medium duty and go straight to a heavy duty kink-free hose, and it should come with a lifetime warranty (I got mine at Lowe's). You can go cheap with the nozzle if you wish, as it's dropped often and won't matter. But make sure you do not store the hose with the nozzle attached for any long periods of time (especially if you have hard water). The best way to go about the hose situation, is to get a kink-free heavy duty hose, high quality nozzle, quick connects from the faucet to the hose, and from the hose to the nozzle, and a hose caddy.

Any other advice to share? Any hose caddy recommendations?