Cargo netting is made by hand from rope. It is called cargo netting because its primary use in most applications is the lifting or boundary containment of some kind of cargo. It is woven by hand because the rope used to make it is too large in diameter to be manipulated by machines, and it is unique in comparison to other forms of netting in that it is made without knotting the rope.



Cargo netting can be used to either lift materials or contain them. It can form a powerful boundary around ship decks, elevated platforms, and amusement equipment, and it can be used to tie down pallets of products or even large, heavy vehicles. This represents a tremendous cost savings for many organizations who must find a way to transport heavy materials but prefer not to invest their entire material handling budget in containers. Substituting a net equally capable of safe containment represents equivalent safety and considerably less expense to shipping and industrial organizations.

Cargo nets are the oldest form of netting known to man. Nets in the ancient world were very heavy, very powerful, and also made by hand. Little has changed in their design over the centuries, with the exception that most modern nets are made from polyester rope. Cargo nets made from traditional types of rope as well, such as hemp or manila can be custom ordered through Easy Rack by special request.

The rope used to make a cargo net thicker and stronger than the rope used to make number 96, standard, knotted netting. The strands in standard knotted netting typically measure 4mm in size and have a weight capacity of 900 lbs per strand. This is impressive strength, and sufficient for many industrial, commercial, and athletic applications. However, when thousands of pounds of strength are required, it is necessary to use a cargo net. The absence of knotting, the diameter of the rope, and the hand-woven intricacy of its design make it the toughest and most reliable net for the most heavy duty applications.

Cargo nets are found in almost every industry where safety is paramount and where controlling thousands of pounds of weight is essential to process flow and success of operations. Amusement parks almost always surround their playground equipment with enough cargo netting to break the fall of a person who trips or slips. Parks will also use them as boundary nets to control traffic between different areas of the park, and as safety “walls” that line the sides of foot bridges. Because of their resilience and capacity, they are also the preferred form of climbing nets in most amusement parks. Container ships will actually use them as a form of container, tying down huge pallets with cargo nets to hold them in place during transport, and using similar netting attached to cranes to unload them at the docks when the ships reach port. Trucks use this netting as well as a back “wall” to hold cargo in the back of the trailer, and the military uses it quite a bit in training maneuvers and helicopter search and rescue operations.