Camo Net Query

[JONO]

Wotcher,

 

I own a 4mx4m ex tank net I purchased from an online army surplus store for about £27.

 

Its great and has worked fine - especially since I doubled it over so its 4m x 2m with double the coverage material.

 

The ****** is that its really heavy and bulky (especially when wet when it also really stinks!) - it will seat two comfortably so I probably won't get rid of it (should I have a "guest") but I think I want a light weight, possibly smaller net just for me (and particularly for summer use) and was wondering what size and patterns people use.

 

Theres the usual suspects:-

 

Realtree HG

Adv Timber

 

And

 

Max 4 (grassy)

Camoreal - woodlands and moorland

Smaller ex-army tank net.

 

They come in 8' x 5', 10' x 6' and 15' x 6' - ranging from cheaper ones on Ebay to the larger more expensive ones at around £50.

 

Any advice or recommendations?

 

Jon

[webber]

Jono

 

Your net sounds just like the first net that I puchased. Bought on price not quality.

 

if you examine the actual net, I think that you will find that it is made from green wool. The wool soaks up water when wet, and weighs a ton. Ours also stunck, but dont know why.

 

I invested in a couple of nets from the Debben catalogue, I got the ones that are fastened to a backing net, as they are stronger.

 

The actual cammo is up to you, it needs to match as close as possible to your background.

 

Having not used the ex mod net for a few years, I burned it last year as the smell became too much. Having missed the smell for a while, I purchased its brother at a game fair, only sand coloured this time. Hopefully it wont get wet!. Oh, the smell, easy, its in my mates shed. he says hes got no sence of smell, we shall see!

 

webber

[Cranfield]

The modern "ex Army" cammo nets, aren,t such a problem as the old ones.

I would purchase a small size one, or cut your current net in half.

It will then weigh half as much when wet and smell half as bad.

 

I think the price of the fashionable cammo netting is extortionate, with no real Advantage s (excuse the pun :( over the ex Army stuff. )

[palombier]

Jono

 

I too bought a tank net which was too heavy. Unlike Webber my problem was that it contained loads of metal rings. I cut off all the metal rings,save the ones on each corner. I then cut the net in half. Now the 2 are reasonably manageable.

 

P

[JONO]

Cheers lads.

 

As you can imagine its the bulk (ie. a bin bag full) of net as much as it is the weight and the smell.

 

At the end of a days shooting I need something that'll go in my 85 litre bergen with the dekes and everything else leaving a hand free to lug the birds.

 

These light weight nets make a claim about weight and don't look halfway near as bulky (I'm sure its the four jumpers worth of green woollen string you end up carrying).

 

I agree about the price but I'm trying to get that compromise and happy middle ground before I collapse in a heap under a mound of scrim.

 

I may cut the original net in half and then bastardise one half to provide extra cover for the bit I want to keep but again the question of bulk rears its head.

[webber]

Jono

 

I went through the same the pros nd cons just like you. In the end I dug deep and have not regretted it once.

 

I think that the army use wool so that the troops can knit their own socks when theyve nothing to do. Also they dont really design them with pigeon shooters in mind. I dont think that the farmers would appreciate pigeon shooters who roled up sporting an APC, and the net to cover it.

 

webber

[Cranfield]

Lightweight nets may be easy to carry, but they need a hide pole every 12 inches, if the wind blows.

They flap around, just like a scarecrow. NOT what you want a hide to do.

[webber]

Cranfield

 

I cant agree about every 12 inches; but I do place my spare pole in the middle of the panel that is facing into wind. The 4 main poles are secured with guy lines, I use spare neck props for pegs, so no need to carry both. The net is also spragged at the base, also with neck props, and the net is fastened to the posts with re-usable plastic garden ties, similar to a cable tie, but not permanent. I also have a knitting row counter fastened to my front net. This is used as a tally, its light and its cheap.

 

Hedges do move a bit in the wind, but I agree that flapping must be avoided.

 

webber

[Cranfield]

webber, all those poles, guy ropes, plastic ties, and pegging down the bottom of the net, just to use a lightweight net and you admit it still moves in the wind. .....................I rest my case M,Lud. :(

[ernyha]

:( I only used my Realtree lightweight twice as a hide,it is now stuffed up a corner and only comes out when i need to cover the motor if it is shining too much near the hide.

A complete waste of £25 in my opinion.

[red_stag88]

Anyone use electric fence posts? They would be good as you can hold the net in more than one place.

[PTaylor2k4]

:( I only used my Realtree lightweight twice as a hide,it is now stuffed up a corner and only comes out when i need to cover the motor if it is shining too much near the hide.

A complete waste of £25 in my opinion.

 

i'll take it off you for £10

[ernyha]

You have a PM

[fishandshoot]

Just a bit of useless info.

 

The reason they smell when wet is that there soaked in chemicals to stop them rotting. We used to use them to cover up kit on the squadron

 

 

PJ (Sqd Ldr Retired. 18 Sqn- Crazy Horses)

[M ROBSON]

One micro-mesh net is enough to carry with you. You can pick them up for less than £20 and they fit in your pocket. I back this up with black bulldog clips from Halfords, use them to secure the net to your poles in a strong wind and also to clip dead grass and vegitation onto it. The end result is a very light but natural looking hide that you can see through easily if you need to.

Mark.

[webber]

Cranfield

 

3 nets, 6 poles and all the rest, still weighs less than the old camo net dry, and it dont stink. My nets are virtually 100% cover and therefore act like a sail, therefore guy ropes are required in moderate + winds. The MOD stuff is fine if you want to hide a tank, have no sence of smell and a forklift truck license.

 

Ive not yet come across a wind proof hedge!

 

webber

[Cranfield]

Only cissies use lightweight nets.

[webber]

Only tight fisted loonies, use the MOD stuff, when better alternatives exist.

 

webber

[The Sniper]

Webber,

 

I've got to agree with you.

 

My netting is the new Army netting, plastic scrim on good netting. Very lightweight.

 

I have it arranged on the hide poles, as per John Batley, and I measured it yesterday, after reading this thread. It is 6 yds by 5'6". I don't have it reaching right to the floor. It is about 9" off the floor. That makes it easier to fold up round the kickplates on the hide poles. This setup does for a square hide or a straight forward hide in front of you.

 

My mate still insists on using the old ex MOD netting. He used it on Wednesday this week and its just dried out !!

[crowstopper]

I use an X MOD net and it has served me well I am now very used to the smell (tend to ignore it now). The net has served me well and is still going strong. The one I have is quite large but I manage to fit it in a day bag with some food and ammo. I think I am one of the “tight fisted loonies” but it works and I can cover our landrover with it as an added extra . For hide poles I use large sticks and sharpen the ends. If you want them lower you just cut a bit off. As we have an endless supply of them. I think this makes me an even more “tight fisted loony”

 

 

Crowstopper

[JONO]

My netting is the new Army netting, plastic scrim on good netting. Very lightweight

 

Where d'you get this stuff

 

Or are you talking about the camoreal netting?

[ernyha]

My netting is the new Army netting, plastic scrim on good netting. Very lightweight

 

Where d'you get this stuff

 

Jono i also use this type of net but how i got mine was a little complicated.

 

First off you need your son to be a sergeant in the army and to be told to burn the off-cuts that are left over from covering vehicles.

The army's idea of an off-cut made my mate and myself 2 nets of about 12x5ft.

 

Sadly he is now in civvy street so my supply has dried up.

 

As The Sniper says it is superb netting compared to the old stuff.

[The Sniper]

Jono,

 

I also acquired mine in a similar way to Ernyha. If you know somebody in the forces, you've cracked it.

 

To be honest though, it's not much different from the stuff that you can buy from an Army surplus store or Game fair.

[Cranfield]

Any exArmy cammo netting is great, including the modern nylon stuff.

 

My comments have been aimed at the lightweight, woven cammo, which is almost a very fine mesh, with slits in it.

[squintshot]

All this fuss and expense to hide under a net, round here looking at some of the fields all you need to do is dress in your scruffiest clothes and stand in the middle of the field. Either that local farmers are **** at scarecrows or the birds are well hard!!!