Redden Net Custom Nets are being utilized in large construction projects.
LANGLEY – As their name implies, Redden Net Custom Nets Limited provides nets. While the company started by providing nets for fishing applications, they have since spread out into many other applications, including various sporting activities.
Their latest growth area is providing nets for construction sites, as Redden nets are used for worker safety protection and skillfully catching debris, keeping those below out of danger from falling material.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work with big construction companies, providing them with safety and debris netting,” says owner Greg Firth. “When you see nets on the side of buildings that are under construction, that is our product.
“These nets can go as high as five storeys, he explains. “When workers are putting in the safety railings or glass, if the glass happens to break, the net shoots out to catch them before they could land on the ground.”
Firth says the netting is not just limited to anti-fall protection, as it is utilized for hybrid elevator, and scaffolding netting. Plus for catching any debris that might fall.
Redden Nets can be used for any number of different applications
“These are tools that keep all the debris inside the building where it belongs,” he adds. “It encloses the whole building. For example, when repairs are being done on ‘leaky condos’, our nets and scaffolding goes around the building to keep the debris inside.”
Firth points out that Redden Nets are currently being utilized during the construction of the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster.
“We came up with a system that could protect a quarter (25 cents) or a piece of concrete that size, so we developed a two-part catch net,” he notes. The old bridge was falling apart, so our nets were under the bridge and we were also surveying and coming up with new ideas for how to protect people from falling debris.”
John Redden started the Redden Net Co. Ltd. firm in 1958 to supply commercial fishing gear to communities up and down the Pacific Northwest coast. As the business grew, it opened stores in Steveston and Campbell River, but instead of the family taking over the stores, they offered it to employees, including Firth, who has now been with the company for 40 years.
Redden Net Custom Nets come in all sizes and shapes
Their executive team has over 100 combined years of experience in every facet of industrial netting, and Redden nets were used in the Winter Olympics – Calgary in 1988 and Vancouver in 2010.
“We provided A Net, B Net and C Net products for downhill skiing in the Vancouver games, and that was one of our big accomplishments and a highlight for us.”
Redden Nets are popular for backyard sports like baseball batting cages, as well as for golf ranges and other uses in baseball, soccer, arenas and goal nets.
“Through Covid, we provided tons of nets for individuals who were stuck at home, and had kids in baseball, soccer and hockey. We can make nets as small as 10 x 10 feet net if someone wants one,” he adds.
In agriculture, they are used for bird control in vineyards, orchards and berry fields, as well as deer fences. And, of course, they are used in fishing, on everything from seines to trawlers, for traps and gill nets.
“We also do a lot of theme parks, including Disneyland, and big hotels and water parks,” Firth points out. “The companies that provide nets for those operations get their nets from us. When you see nets in the McDonald’s play areas, for example, those are our nets. They are also used as gangway nets on the waterfront. They are asked for by the longshoremen, because they are Canadian made and certified.”
