Kink, crush, and burst resistant flexible hose construction

1. A hose comprising:

a tubular member comprising a sidewall aligned along a longitudinal axis and a lumen radially inside said sidewall, said tubular member comprising an ethylene-octene interpolymer comprising polymerized units of ethylene and 1-octene, wherein the interpolymer is characterized by an average block index greater than zero and up to about 1.0 and a molecular weight distribution, M w /M n , greater than about 1.3; and

a helical reinforcement strip at least partially embedded within said sidewall of said tubular member and helically wound with a pitch about said lumen of said tubular member, said reinforcement strip comprising a blend of polypropylene and an ethylene-butene interpolymer of ethylene and 1-butene, where the ethylene-butene interpolymer is characterized by an average block index greater than zero and up to about 1.0 and a molecular weight distribution, Mw/Mn, greater than about 1.3.

2. The hose of claim 1 wherein said tubular member further crosslinking vinylsilane agent.

3. The hose of claim 1 wherein the helical reinforcement strip contains from 20 weight percent to 80 weight percent of said ethylene-butene interpolymer, and with the balance of the helical reinforcement strip constituting polypropylene.

4. The hose of claim 1 wherein said sidewall is bounded between an inner surface and an outer surface radially outward of said inner surface, and further comprising:

a tubular yarn layer radially inside said inner surface; and

a tubular conduit radially inside said yarn layer, said tubular conduit bordering said lumen.

5. The hose of claim 1 wherein said sidewall is bounded between an inner surface and an outer surface radially outward of said inner surface, and further comprising: a tubular yarn layer radially outside of said outer surface.

6. The hose of claim 1 further comprising:

a continuous strand of yarn inside said reinforcement strip.

7. The hose of claim 1 wherein said first polymer comprises a closed-cell foam.

8. The hose of claim 1 , wherein the ethylene-octene interpolymer has an initial modulus of about 3,000 psi or less, and the helical reinforcement strip has a zero or positive tangent modulus value up to a strain level of about 20 percent and an initial modulus of about 5000 psi or more.

9. The hose of claim 1 wherein said ethylene-octene interpolymer has a minimum stress of about 400 psi at a 250 percent strain.

10. The hose of claim 1 wherein said helical reinforcement strip has a tensile strength of about 1000 psi or more.

11. The hose of claim 1 wherein said initial modulus of said helical reinforcement strip is about 40,000 psi or more.

12. The hose of claim 11 wherein said helical reinforcement strip has a tensile strength of about 1600 psi or more.

13. The hose of claim 1 wherein said initial modulus of said ethylene-octene interpolymer ranges from about 600 psi to about 1,000 psi, and said ethylene-octene interpolymer has a stress at 250 percent strain ranging about 750 psi to 1250 psi.

14. The hose of claim 1 wherein the tubular member consists essentially of an ethylene-octene interpolymer and a crosslinking vinylsilane agent.

15. The hose of claim 1 wherein helical reinforcement strip is wound with a spiral winding pattern having a helical pitch such that adjacent pairs of turns are non-contacting.

16. The hose of claim 15 wherein the helical pitch of the spiral winding pattern is such that adjacent pairs of turns of the helical reinforcement strip have a centerline spacing which is within the range of 110 percent to 500 percent.

17. The hose of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of said hose is substantially smooth.