Batting Cage Nets – 2021 Insider’s Review By tony | Published on March 4, 2021August 28, 2024 Thank you so much for checking out our Batting Cage Nets – 2021 Insider’s Review. Let’s get started. Best Indoor Batting Cage Net Material If you’re looking for the best batting cage material for your indoor batting cage, you should look no farther than the #60 Nylon. We recommend #60 Nylon for commercial facilities. Why? Because it’s almost twice as thick as the #36 nylon that we recommend to most high schools and homeowners. The added thickness of the #60 Nylon gives the net extra durability. However, t’s not so thick as to make it hang strangely when installed. (We’re looking at you #96. The old #96-er is so thick that the square mesh just isn’t..well. square.) For the best indoor batting cage material that performs great and looks great, go with #60 Nylon. It’s tough enough for the wear and tear of MLB players, as well as the traffic common in commercial facilities, but is an affordable option for homeowners. And it hangs much cleaner than the #96 Nylon option. Best Backyard/Hobby Outdoor Batting Cage Net The #36 Poly is an excellent choice for batting cage net material if you need to just get through a season or two. However, poly has its drawbacks, which is why we only recommend it for occasional use. Poly is a plastic batting cage net material made of the same stuff as the milk jugs in your fridge. The friction from repeated baseball and softball impact wears holes faster through the plastic than nylon. Nylon is a fabric, so has more flexibility and is better able to ‘absorb’ the abrasion of baseballs and softballs spinning into it at speed. The upside of poly is that as a plastic material, it is waterproof, and doesn’t require an add-on like latex dip to prevent it from absorbing moisture. If your player is just going to using their outdoor batting cage occasionally, the #36 poly is a great choice for batting cage net material. For more serious players, see the #36 and #60 nylon options below. Best Outdoor Batting Cage Net Material You’ve already read that we consider the #60 Nylon to be the best indoor batting cage material, so it probably comes as no surprise that we consider the #60 Nylon to be the best outdoor material as well. However, it does come with a caveat. While nylon is better than poly at withstanding the continual wear and tear of baseballs spinning into at high speeds, nylon is not a waterproof material. Fortunately, there’s an easy remedy. Adding Latex Dip to your nylon net makes the net only durable, but water resistant as well. The nylon net soaks in latex for three days. The latex is absorbed into the nylon and creates a rubber outer shell around the nylon protecting the fabric from water absorption. #60 nylon with latex is the best choice for outdoor batting cage nets. (If you’re wondering what our second place choice is, we’d recommend the #36 nylon. Read more about it below. Best Overall Value Batting Cage Net Indoors or out, the #36 Nylon batting cage net is the best overall choice for value. The #36 Nylon is thick enough and durable enough to get most players through their high school years, making it the most popular material for home and school use by far. If you’re using your #36 Nylon net indoors, you can leave the net unprotected. However, if you’re installing the net on an outdoor batting cage frame, you’ll want to add latex to protect the nylon net from absorbing water. Nothing disintegrates a nylon net faster than water absorption. There are a few different options available to protect your net, but our favorite is Latex Dip. As an add-on to nylon nets it is typically about 15 – 25% of the net price, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to help inhibit moister absorption in an outdoor batting cage net. While the black Nylon by itself is UV protected, if you will be using your nylon net in an outdoor batting cage, we always recommend adding a waterproofing option like a latex dip. The #36 nylon is our favorite overall batting cage net for homes and high school, for it’s overall value and durability. Best Batting Cage Net for Facilities If you’ve read this far, you can probably guess our answer for this category already. #60 Nylon. At .5 mm thicker than #36 gauge nets, we love the durability of the #60 Nylon for commercial facilities. Facility owners don’t have time to be replacing nets every year. That’s why we always recommend #60 Nylon for commercial facilities. Nets need to be ‘set it and forget it,’ and that’s what you get with #60 nylon. Of course, by now you also know that if your facility has outdoor cages, you need to add the latex dip to your #60 nylon. While black nylon is UV protected, you also need to protect your net from it’s number one predator, moisture. Latex dip is the most effective and most cost-effective option. If you’re wondering what the number two and three natural predators of outdoor batting cage nets are: rabbits and mice. Number four? Hitters with a fierce launch velocity. Best Cheap Batting Cage Net Material Okay, you’ve read about the best batting cage materials, but you still want to hear about the cheapest batting cage material. Here it is. If you are absolutely on a budget, or love buying batting cage nets every 6 months to a year, then the #21 Poly batting cage net is the material for you. #21 is the thickness recommended for most Little Leaguers, and poly, as you know by now, is the less expensive, less durable batting cage net material available. Most of our customers skip the #21 poly and go right to the #36 nylon because they want to get their player(s) through high school on their net purchase. But maybe you’ve got a player who you aren’t sure is going to be swinging the stick next year. If so, #21 poly is the right net for you. Questions About Batting Cage Net Materials Thank you so much for reading our Batting Cage Nets – 2021 Insider’s Review. With 20 years of batting cage net experience, we are happy to help our customers find the perfect batting cage net for their needs and budget. Ready for a quote? Have questions? Just comment below, and we’ll be right with you!