Jim,
What you consider putting it through its paces and what I consider it to be are obviously two different things. We clean 3,000 seating units on ship refit in a week and so my pair have cleaned thousands and thousands in constant use day after day, after day, non-stop whilst attached to one of the most powerful truck mounts in the world and yet no hose collapses and no faults. We use them side-by-side with two Drimaster 2's which are as good were they not so cumbersome with a tendency to catch on certain fabrics, but my guy's prefer the SS tool because it is light and versatile, easy to use and yet produces superb quality across a wide range of soil conditions, including extremely dirty pub seating.
Simon