Originally Posted by
mountainwalker
Thanks for the suggestion - do you have a link to them?
The link to the Delta cargo net right after your post appears to be the same kind of nets I've been using, although I thought I got mine from Sunlite. Probably the same factory in China churns them both out.
I don't usually use a bungee net as the primary way to secure a load, I use it to help rein in an unruly load or provide additional points of contact in addtion to regular bungee cords. I couldn't recommend a brand of regular bungee cord, just that wherever you get them from get plastic hooked ones instead of metal hooked ones, you'll thank me later.
* All of my regular bungee cords were either found on the side of the road or bought at truck stops/gas stations years ago.
At some point I also picked up a bungee that has a large(-ish, regular bungee sized) hook on each end, but instead of one thick cord it has three flat elastic straps running between the hooks. I like this for some applications, like when I was strapping a book bag (minimalist, just a textbook or two and a binder in a bag not much bigger) to the top of my front rack. I don't think it is quite as versatile as a classic bungee cord, but sometimes it's just the thing. I tried to find my records ordering it and no luck, and I'm striking out on Google tonight looking for it too, so I don't have a name/model for it. Closest I could find was this:
24 in. Multi Strand Bungee Cord | Princess Auto, which looks very similar, except that one ends in carabiners instead of hooks. I've never tried one with carabiners before, somehow I expect that at times it'd be a little clumsier to secure everything with D rings instead of hooks. Wouldn't have to worry about it coming loose presumably though. Part of my aversion to the metal hooks is that I don't want them slipping out of my hands and hitting me in the face or eyes when I'm securing a load. Getting hit in the face with a metal carabiner is probably not as bad as with a metal hook, but almost always even less bad would be a plastic hook.
All my standard bungees have probably about 10" of elastic cord, whatever is the common size for vehicle applications. This has always been plenty for me to secure any load. Sometimes with smaller loads, I end up wrapping it around some part of the rack or load more than once. I usually try and use two regular bungees going different directions to "triangulate" my load, and with larger or heavier loads, usually add a second crosswise bungee to make sure nothing gets away.