I wanna create a hose, seems simple? Well I wanna make a real one where it bends and stuff how do you guys suppose I do this? where it also has a limit I thought of creating many small cylinders but idk.
The game Aegis? by Widgeon? had dynamic pipes you could connect to transfer “mass” (in your case water) through the pipes, and they were constructed of small cylinders like you said. They bent slightly in between each cylinder and it turned it pretty well. Sometimes they got tangled and such, but I think overall your first thought seems like a good idea.
You could try creating thick rope constraints between invisible spheres. Or rods, but those would be rigid.