Welcome home to your hose HQ with Mercedes Textiles. We have big plans for this site, not just showcasing our innovations, but sharing all kinds of hose-related tips and training, too — not to mention your stacks, packs and pulls.
But to roll out, let's start with the basics:
5 things to know about OUR hose.
Built to outperform & outlast
Designing and manufacturing our own hoses for nearly 50 years means we know just how to deliver quality fire hose that outperforms and outlasts. Mercedes Textiles specializes in premium double-jacket polyurethane hose — not EPDM rubber or Nitrile.
From our EXO lineup to our MegaFlo supply lines, we engineer to balance high performance with low weight and superior packability because that all matters when seconds count. We aim to hit the sweet spot that delivers water on the fire effectively and efficiently.
We use a unique process for our Mertex® inner hose linings exclusive to our fire hose. We extrude a molten lining material directly onto the fabric jacket at the loom, creating a superior waterway — free from adhesives, glues or other bonding agents. This exceptionally smooth lining minimizes friction loss and yields greater water flow at the discharge end. We guarantee it will NEVER delaminate.
From the hydrant to the nozzle
Whatever the size or application, we've got the hose you need — guaranteed. Mercedes manufactures supply and attack hose in all NFPA diameters from 1" up to 6". We're known for our legendary KrakenEXO® line, but we offer other quality lines for a variety of applications and priorities. We have also introduced an oversize 2" attack hose with our KrakenEXO SUPER II™ and have reinforced small diameter attack hose for low pressure applications with our new LPX Technology.
Engineered for the job
We believe innovation is necessary for your safety — and that innovation should meet the needs of the fire service. This has led us to many exclusive technologies and processes, like that Mertex® lining mentioned above. We engineered our Breather Technology™ to release trapped air between the jackets for unrivaled packability, strength and flexibility. We treat our hose with PermaTek™ coating to protect it from wear and tear, mold, mildew, and more. We designed our unique WAYOUT® couplings to offer you a low-light, tactile signal for emergency egress. We even integrated RFID-enabled tracking with our RFiDENTIFY™ label system. With over 60 patents to our name, we are proud hose nerds.
From end-to-end in-house
We do it all in-house in North America – engineer, weave both the inner and outer jackets, manufacture the couplings, assemble and test. We do not import any part of our hose. This ensures we control our product quality. In fact, we are the only company that manufactures our own couplings in house, like our patented WAYOUT® and IREFLECT STORZ®. This also allows us to make unique design modifications, like our 2x2.5" MERLITE® couplings used on our KrakenEXO SUPER II® lines.
Tested, proven, and backed
We stand by our product quality and performance — we introduced the 2-10-L warranty to the industry and back most of our hose with it. Not only does our hose meets the latest NFPA-1961 standards, but we go above and beyond for UL and FM approvals. Because YOU are on the line, and that matters to us!
There you have it... a little ride along of our ingenuity with us, the hose nerds at Mercedes Textiles. Of course, for a deeper dive into the details of our product lines, check out our ever-growing hose spec library or our friction-loss calculator.