gas tubing - does it really matter whether I use braided or not?

I've had the same thick, red, 5/16" tubing on my regulator since I got it years ago. But I was running a new gas line into the drain hole of my Sanyo 4910 and used plain 1/4" clear vinyl tubing. It seems like most people use the heavy duty or braided stuff. But is it really necessary? The stuff I got at Lowes is rated at 55 PSI at 70 degrees. I don't crank my regulator high.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

Don't know about the stuff at lowes, but if it's rated that you should be fine.

I use the 5/16" beer lines for my gas lines and have yet to have a problem. The max psi anyone would probably use is 30 and thats for force carbing over a short period of time. You'll be just fine with the tube you have now.

I use the braided 1/4" line from Lowe's It's like $.50 a foot and I get like 15 or 20 feet at a time. I owuld not use the plain tubing. if I had 5/16 fitting i would just keep using the red stuff as it's really chap at the LHBS.

I use vinyl line also. No problems its busting pressure is over twice what it will ever see.

BAD IDEA!!! I tried that with the clear vinyl hose, rated at 55PSI. At 25PSI for a month (I have mostly apple wine and soda kegged...) the tubing had swelled to nearly three times it's orriginal size and was near bursting. Replaced it with braided line and haven't had any problems.

Crap.... I had everything hooked up (the 2 cornies in my Sanyo fridge)...and now I notice that the tank (which I recently filled) is empty. I've got a leak somewhere... !

Out comes the soapy water... Take the cornies out of the picture to help isolate the problem. Good luck!