Hemp Nets

[Rolfe 2]

Last year i had to re-home some ferrets for a guy who's wife was ill and he could no longer look after them. He also gave me a Mk 1 Ferret finder and two collars.......plus 12 hand made hemp nets completely unused.

Until today the nets had hung in my shed amongst hundreds of others and when I decided to "Christen" them so to speak.

 

I had to go and do a couple of small buries under some trees in a large country house so only took the new nets and a couple of young ferrets plus one reliable worker as back up. It was only when i spread the nets over the holes that i noticed they were very few meshes wide. On examining one i found they were started at 7 meshes wide, then meshes were increased to 12 meshes wide in the centre of the net before being reduced back to 7 again.( the nets were 18 meshes long) As these were the only nets i had with me i was a bit sceptical.......but 4 rabbits were bolted and the nets functioned absoloutely perfectly. Now i have seen and used many types of nets over the years but had never come across any like this......Has anyone else seen this type of hemp net I wonder?.........it was a new one on me. That said........as they worked perfectly well..... it would make a ball of hemp go a lot further if nets were constructed like this.

[TOMO 25,038]

when i first learned to knitt, i made them 12 wide but would start at 9. also made them 18 long and a few at 21 long .

 

like with any net even the very poor 4z, its all about setting them right.

 

 

most of my own hand made nets are now 22 -24 mesh long and 16 wide, done with a 2.1/4 mesh board , so are over the 4 foot mark

[8shot 191]

my old man use to have nets like that and as far i can remeber they were fine

[COMPO 54]

Lots of people make/use shaped nets like you describe

 

The theory is that it puts the most netting where you need it in the centre and as such also saves materials where they aren't needed, they are also meant to fit round holes better?

and i would guess it would make them lighter to carry there being that bit less string to them?

 

An old chap i know makes some like this as well as double pegged ones (poke nets) and different sizes etc.......

[Rolfe 2]

Lots of people make/use shaped nets like you describe

 

The theory is that it puts the most netting where you need it in the centre and as such also saves materials where they aren't needed, they are also meant to fit round holes better?

and i would guess it would make them lighter to carry there being that bit less string to them?

 

An old chap i know makes some like this as well as double pegged ones (poke nets) and different sizes etc.......

 

I have made shaped nets and standard nets for many years........it's just i had never seen shaped nets with such such a small number of meshes before..........it just intrigued me that as these nets work perfectly well........why we bother with all the extra work (and hemp) to knit nets with more meshes. It certainly gave me food for thought and i might try and make a few like these. Obviously there is always going to be a need for bigger nets in certain situations but it'll certainly make my hemp spools go further.

[SwissTony 0]

I start my nets with 7 on the ring, +1 each row up to 17, 2 more at 17, then back down to 7 on the end ring.

[Coatesy900 0]

and i would guess it would make them lighter to carry there being that bit less string to them?

 

Not sure about them being lighter mate. The hemp weighs basically nothing and with things like ferret boxs, shovels etc im not sure you would be able to tell the difference tbh.

[Rolfe 2]

I start my nets with 7 on the ring, +1 each row up to 17, 2 more at 17, then back down to 7 on the end ring.

 

That seems ok at that ..........it's just that these were only 12 wide at the centre.......and still worked well with the lesser mesh. .... Just seems more effort for a similar result. Not knocking anyone's knitting styles here......horses for courses. It's like my standard nets.......i always make mine 14 meshes wide.....but some like 16, 18, or 20 It's what suits you at the end of the day.

I just wonder what is the least amount of meshes you could get away with and still have an effective purse net.

[stealthy1 3,964]

Could be very handy size for a quick session, and with the price of good hemp rocketing, it could be a winner.

[auld salmon 28]

i make all my net 12 wide by 18 or more long never had any problems

[Meroman 105]

I bought a dozen of these nets at a game fair about three years ago and they did their job perfectly for two seasons but this season they had started to rot and when a rabbit hit them they just burst.

After each outing they were hung out to dry before being put back in the bag so it wasn't that they got wet and were not dried out properly I just think that hemp is not long-lasting....

[SwissTony 0]

A lot of people recommend soaking them in cuprinol wood preserve to make them last a bit longer.

Just a thought, were they definitely genuine hemp not some fake stuff passed off as hemp?

[Meroman 105]

Tony you have hit the nail on the head there, never thought about that...

[TOMO 25,038]

all that stuff you now buy from the big hunting shops is not hemp. its flax. got 2 bobins here. tied the first row on to the ring, second row, "snap" f**k, i didn't pull that hard. picked the bobin up pulled of about a foot, and tuged on it snap. repeated this a few more times. both bobins just sat there now.

 

 

i would love to get some real old proper hemp

[fr0gman4 0]

all that stuff you now buy from the big hunting shops is not hemp. its flax. got 2 bobins here. tied the first row on to the ring, second row, "snap" f**k, i didn't pull that hard. picked the bobin up pulled of about a foot, and tuged on it snap. repeated this a few more times. both bobins just sat there now.

 

 

i would love to get some real old proper hemp

 

Same here Tomo I have two bobbins of the snappin shite, did you also find that it twists like fook as well no mattter how carefully you load the needle. tangly,twisty, snappy shite will be used as garden string about all its good for