ianrob 2 Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 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. Hi Rolfe. Traditionally, purse nets are 18 mesh wide throughout, however anyone can knit anything they like. A bit of tapering ie for a row or perhaps two can make a nice net, but when netting a blunderbus hole, where the rabbit can exit anywhere in an 18" diameter, you can't beat a 42 or 48" net, where a strike which is way off centre is still safely pursed. Quote Link to post
SwissTony 0 Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 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 When I first started making nets, I was going to use good old hemp, but due to the fact that people sell fake stuff, I gave up on that idea and decided to go for spun polyester. Its a lot cheaper than hemp, no drying to worry about, and it handles well to. Get on to John Hubery of here for some super sexy yellow poly or maybe just bog standard green. I am sure he has other colours as well, I think they are black, orange and red. 01388 722600 this is the phone number for his shop. I am in no way affiliated with his company, I guess its just a bit of brown nosing Quote Link to post
TOMO 28,296 Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 i already have a plenty spun poly nets, and a good few bobins ready to make more, and i agree its good stuff. just fancied a few bobbins of some good old fasioned REAL hemp to make a bag of 50 or so up, just to take me back to my youth Quote Link to post
comanche 3,251 Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) When I started out as an impoverished and naive schoolboy I used some very cheap and nasty nets . Some were only 2 feet long but at least as I built up my stock I could actually put something-anything-over the holes rather than see rabbits skip away laughing. Later I went through a phase of making nets that tapered outwards toward the middle and then narrowed back to the bottom ring. Maybe it was because here in Sussex there are a lot of ancient buries on clay and chalk that have gaping mouths I was not as satisfied with them as with full meshed nets . (Blame the tools n all that ) I still work on the theory that as the top bit of the net is'nt usually in the catching zone a few less meshes won't matter but no longer taper back in to the bottom ring. To be honest I do this simply so I can eke -out another net or two from a ball of twine . Edited March 4, 2009 by comanche Quote Link to post
SwissTony 0 Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Anyone ever tried/heard off a teardrop shaped net??? Uses less string than a square net, plus more meshes to tangle the feet up at the part the rabbits run on. Something like this: ....Top ring/peg end ..........ooooooo .........oooooooo ........ooooooooo .......oooooooooo ......ooooooooooo .....oooooooooooo ....ooooooooooooo ...oooooooooooooo ..ooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo .oooooooooooooooo ..ooooooooooooooo ....ooooooooooooo ......ooooooooooo .......oooooooooo .......Bottom Ring If it hasn't been tried, I call ©opyright and patent Quote Link to post
bramble 0 Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Hi Swiss Tony, i used to make my nets like this but now prefer to make shaped nets, i start with 8 meshes on the ring and increase 1 mesh at both ends, i stop at row no 6 which gives me 18 meshes, then knit my required length. Rgds steve ps hope this makes sense Quote Link to post
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.