BCM Single High Mist Net Poles

Heavy duty black anodized seamless poles for single high mist nets, double high mist nets, and bat detector microphones

Pleasures of these mist net poles include:

• Easily handles single high nets of any length

• Easily handles double high net sets without any extra hardware

• Seamless connections so nets slide without any obstruction.

• Machined of all aluminum, will ever rust, virtually indestructible.

• All poles are anodized flat black for one stealthy setup. Yes, bats see poles and may clue them in that something fishy is going on.

• Each section is standard 3' long and weighs 1.5 lbs. For reference matching other poles you aren't sure are BCM's, all of our poles (silver or black) are ~19mm diameter, 12.39mm male pin diameter.

• For a setup consisting of 6 poles (2 bottoms and 4 tops), the weight is about 9 lbs. total. 

• Not quite interchangeable with other brands of commercially available poles. Interchangeable with previous BCM "silver" (non-anodized) poles. This is also a good time to mention that BCM does NOT sell the actual mist NETS; only poles.

Say good-bye to conduit, bamboo, wood, etc. In the summer of 2001 we needed mist net poles, A LOT of mist net poles. Sure we knew of the terrific lightweight poles already commercially available, but the high price for these featherweight poles caused us to look at other avenues (did I mention we needed A LOT of poles?).

Dutifully we set out starting with aluminum shafts featuring wooden pegs for stacking. Easy to build at a campsite (which a lot of them were), had seamless connectors, and worked great except for when the wooden pegs would swell slightly when wet, causing many afternoons to be (literally) whittled away. Later we tried using some electrical conduit with all its wonderful connectors to avoid our wooden problems, but it turns out that conduit should really just be used for conduit. You can't slide the net loops over the pole connectors, and conduit is HEAVY. Other material like bamboo is great if you -only- do single high nets. So it turns out there is a reason why 36'' seamless stackable poles have proved the test of time...everything else is less versatile.

BCM makes our own all aluminum poles with CNC machined ends. We decided up front we would use for less expensive material instead of trying to make them featherweight, since rarely would we net several days' hike from a road and quite frankly often they are used to whack brush down when we need an extra foot or two for the net length. Anodized black for bat work; helps hide your rigging and potentially catch more bats. After beating on these poles for a few years, dozens of employees, thousands of net sets, hundreds of workshops, we felt they have stood up to enough of our abuse and are proud to make them available to fellow bat and bird netters.

Please note that we sell poles individually instead of packs, so you can build your own configurations. Keep the following facts in mind:

If you want to set one (1) free-standing single high mist net (any length by 2.6 meters high) you will need 2 Bottoms and 4 Tops. Six poles will weigh approximately 5.5 lbs.

If you want to set one (1) free-standing double high mist net you will need 2 Bottoms and 8 Tops.

If you want to set triple high mist nets AKA the type of net required for Indiana/Northern longear bat clearance surveys, these poles are too thin for that kind of span. See our clever Forest Filter mist net system that delivers a 3H wall of net in 15 minutes.

"FYI, Eric just ran over my BCM mist net poles with his F150, along their entire length, not crosswise. No damage. If they were xxxxxx-brand poles, they would have been crushed."

-Janet Tyburec, BCI Bat Workshop Instructor

Free Advice

• Poles need guy ropes to keep tension and prevent mist nets from falling over. Plan on at least 3- 12' ropes per single high net.

• You need 3 poles per side to make a single high net stand up.

• To get the net to the top of the pole, slide the two top shelves onto the top pole, remove the top pole, continue sliding the top shelves into place, then replace the top pole.

• For best results the net should never be saggy and bag overlap should be about 3-4.''

• Got tall grass or other obstructions at your site? Bats aren't going to be clinging to the ground. Add an extra pole to your single high making an "extra high single high."

• Never ever pound a mist net pole into the ground with any hammer. You will mushroom the head of the pole and it will need to be ground smooth again. This is probably the only way to damage our poles. Don't even bother with a "pole pounder" intended for that purpose; that's just more stuff to carry around. Simply press bottom poles into the ground while twisting; you will drill it into hard ground (eventually). 
• All mist net poles conduct electrictiy and should never be used around powerlines. Be aware when loading and unloading poles from vehicles as well as the actual trap site.

Available In Stock, Usually Ships 1-2 Days