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• #12- Not suitable for batting cages, but an excellent choice for keeping birds out of your garden.
• #18- The very minimum for batting cages. With light use may last 2-3 years.
• #21 HDPE- Pretty good. Not commercial, but a decent net. With moderate use may last up to 4-5 years.
• #24 HDPE- A lightweight net used for residential applications. With moderate use, it may last up to 4-6 years.
• #36 HDPE- A decent net. Considered light commercial quality. Don’t let the Jugs 96 label fool you!
• #42 HDPE- A great net used for residential or commercial applications.
• #42 Nylon- A strong net mainly used for facilities, parks, or schools.
• #72 Nylon- A heavyweight net used for commercial applications, sport complexes, and professional facilities.

The most important component in any batting cage is the netting twine size and material. Why is it so difficult to compare? Go to one company and you’ll find #96 netting. At another, you’ll find a 1500 series. So how do you compare #96 to the 1500 series? It’s tough. Most batting cage manufacturers don’t want you to directly compare, so they code the net twine size. One company, in particular, sells a #36 and calls it a #96!

As a general rule, netting comes in twine sizes. The smaller the number, the thinner the twine. A #24 is about twice as thick and twice as strong as a #12 twine. A #36 twine is about twice as thick and strong as a #18.

That’s all there is to it. The problem is, how do you know the twine size? Many companies simply advertise the twine making it easy. Other companies code their product, so you don’t know unless you ask (a few won’t tell you even if you do ask).

Example: One company sells a 1500 series net. You might think they mean #15 twine size, right? Wrong. Their 1500 series is a #12. Their 2100 series is a #18, and their #96 is a #36. Their numbering system is close enough to the popular twine sizes that people naturally assume a direct correlation. This is deceptive.

Another company does it a little differently, and a lot more honestly. Their N36 netting should be a #36 twine right? Well, it is and their N30 is a #30 twine. The bottom line is this, just because you see a model number that is close to a twine size, don’t assume it is the twine size..

At Batting Cages, Inc. we make products using urethane-treated nylon, HDPE, polyester, and KVX200™. KVX200™ premium netting is made with a commercial polymer that is also used in bulletproof vests. This material is strong, and lightweight, does not absorb water, and resists breakdown in direct sunlight. KVX200™ employs an integral UV inhibitor. This means that the UV inhibitor is one component that is already inside the polymeric blend that gets extruded into individual fibers. Those fibers are then twisted or braided into twine. Since the UV inhibitor is built right into KVX200™, the UV inhibitor doesn’t wear off the way it can with nylon. Since KVX200™ doesn’t absorb water, it resists rotting better than nylon or other materials.

KVX200™

KVX200™ is more expensive than HDPE, although it is less expensive than nylon. While KVX200™ may be stronger than HDPE, it doesn’t have the break strength of Nylon. KVX200™ is priced between nylon and HDPE netting. For outdoor use, the performance is nearly on par with nylon. These cages may provide the best value for those concerned with both quality and price.

Nylon

If you have an indoor cage, and durability and break strength is more important than budget, nylon netting is right for you. Nylon has the strongest break strength and is by far the most durable netting for indoor use. Nylon has excellent resistance to abrasion and outstanding overall durability. However, nylon is expensive.

Because nylon netting can absorb water, many manufacturers treat the nylon with some sort of bonding agent by either dipping or spraying the twine. Although treating nylon with a bonding agent will dramatically reduce nylon’s tendency to soak up water, it doesn’t stop it entirely. Eventually, nylon will likely shrink and rot.

When compared with HDPE netting, nylon is initially stronger than HDPE but deteriorates faster. Nylon loses between 15% and 20% of its strength each year depending on conditions. For year one, a #36 nylon will have a greater break strength than a #36 HDPE, but depending upon weather conditions, by the end of the third year HDPE may be as strong, and KVX200™ may be stronger.

Although nylon netting has a high initial break strength, if left outside that strength can deteriorate rapidly. Nylon absorbs water and loses strength in direct sunlight. For indoor applications, nylon is an excellent choice. If your netting will be exposed to adverse weather, consider HDPE or KVX200™.

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

HDPE netting is inexpensive and does not deteriorate as quickly due to moisture. As the netting is exposed to moisture, HDPE retains a higher percentage of its strength than nylon. HDPE does not absorb water, so the problem of rotting and shrinkage disappears.

HDPE netting has drawbacks as well. Most blends of HDPE don’t hold up well to direct sunlight. Not all HDPE cages incorporate UV inhibitors. Ours do. This works well for indoor applications, but it may not be practical over extended periods of outdoor use, especially in warmer climates.

Posi-Lock stitching is a process where these machines tightly weave a thick cord around the rope perimeters in a positive locking pattern, that provides the strongest possible bond between the netting and the rope.

Next to the netting material, the construction is the most important factor determining how a batting cage will wear. If your cage is assembled with light thread, or the stitching is loose, even the best netting can separate from the rope perimeter. Our cages are assembled on state-of-the-art computer-controlled sewing machines.

Rather than simply sewing a rope border to a piece of netting, we take the extra time to weave the rope in and out through the meshes, before sewing the rope to the net. This is an important step because if a stitch were to break, your batting cage would stay together. Other manufacturers simply lay the rope along the netting panel, and some will only stitch the rope to the net every second or third mesh. That puts extra stress on the attachment points and weakens the batting cage.

We incorporate heavy rope borders on the top, the bottom, and the vertical corners. Finally, we sew an extra rib line that runs down the middle of the top panel from front to back. This provides an extra support point so you can keep the net held high.

Square Mesh is Better. Diamond Mesh is Cheaper.

Due to the way netting is produced, hanging a net on the diamond reduces the amount of waste netting, so hanging a net on the diamond is typically less expensive. Hanging a net on the diamond causes a few problems. First, the net won’t hang as straight. The net pattern causes the batting cage to pull in from the sides. On top of that, batting cages with a diamond mesh will usually have poorer seams, because the rope border has to be sewn diagonally across the meshes, leaving an irregular net border to sew to. Square mesh is typically more expensive to produce because the ends must be trimmed off. Although it can take more material to hang a batting cage on the square, the finished product is significantly better. A cage hung on the square will open straighter and all four bottom edges will be more likely to reach the ground. The edges will be neater, and the border will naturally follow the edge of the netting.

This is a controversial issue in our industry. The truth is, it depends on the crossover stitch. A knotless net with a great crossover stitch will typically outlast a knotted net. A knotted net will typically outlast a knotless net that has a weak crossover stitch.

A net’s break strength is determined by calculating how much tension may be placed on a strand before that strand breaks.

#12 nylon net will have a break strength of about 116 pounds. A rolled-up sheet of newspaper will have a break strength of about 240 pounds. Yet, the #12 Nylon net will last much longer. Why? The newspaper will quickly disintegrate in the sun and the rain, so nobody makes batting cages out of paper! This example is intentionally extreme, but what does this mean? Only you can’t assume that a net with a higher “initial” break strength will last longer than a product with a lower break strength.

Similarly, some batting cage materials absorb water (nylon for instance), and some don’t. Some materials resist the adverse effects of direct sunlight better than others, some break down very quickly in direct sunlight. If all netting was made out of the same material, break strength would be an important factor in determining how long a net would last, but it's not. A net’s initial break strength isn’t always related to its functional break strength. A batting cage will fail if its breaking strength drops below about 60 lbs. If a batting cage starts at 500 lbs. and drops below 60 lbs. in two years, the cage will last 2 years. If a cage starts at 200 lbs. and drops below 60 lbs. seven years later, that cage will last seven years.

In the case of batting cage durability, it is important to consider:

• resistance to weather conditions
• size/weight of netting material
• resistance to abrasion
• initial break strength vs. long-term break strength
• relative deterioration
• construction methods and quality

When looking at the Thumper Batting Cage there is a drop-down menu option for either concrete or concrete-free. If you pick concrete, the package will come with concrete ground sleeves. If you pick concrete-free, the package will come with concrete-free ground sleeves that hammer into the ground instead of submerging them into concrete.

Yes, we do! If you have an idea you’d like to discuss please fill out our facility Installation form and we will get back to you shortly.

We have several installation instruction files available for different batting cages. Please see our installation page if you do not see instructions for an item you have please contact sales@battingcagesinc.com.

Each batting cage is installed differently. Two of our batting cages have three lines of cable that run down the length of the cage to support the net (Iron Horse and Mastodon). The other two have length and cross poles to support the net (Trapezoid and Commercial/KVX200).

When looking at our batting cages you will see the size of the net in the drop-down list. In the diagrams below you can see the difference between each batting cage's net and frame size. Since the net is installed over the framework, the net and frame are the same size. The footprint size is 14'6"-15' wide and 35', 55', or 70' long. If you would like to know the footprint of the Mastodon Batting Cage please contact us via sales@battingcagesinc.com or (800) 463-6865.

Commercial & KVX200 Batting Cage

Iron Horse Batting Cage

Press (by hand) the compression cap onto the metal pipe.

Find a desk top/corner and gently push the compression cap back into place, rotating the tee to seat the compression cap evenly.

Just as a pointer, we do not suggest grabbing/holding the Tee from the top of the Stem. The lower part, where the sticker is is what we recommend.

You can contact us through our contact page or fill out the form below. We will be happy to assist you.