NHBS manufactures marine, freshwater and terrestrial survey tools, all carefully designed to meet the demands of researchers, consultants, public authorities and educators in the environment sector. Made by our team of expert engineers, fabricators and seamstresses, our products have become renowned for their quality, durability and affordability.
Our range of equipment includes hand / kick nets, aquatic survey tools, entomology nets and botany products as well as survey essentials such as reptile refugia, newt bottles and dormouse nest tubes. As these are all produced in-house, we are able to conduct strict quality control and reduce the final cost to the customer by minimising the length of the supply chain. We also ensure that our raw materials come from suppliers with the highest environmental standards.
We can also work with you to design and build custom-made equipment that is perfectly suited to your needs.
Need a net in a non-standard size? Or perhaps the perfect piece of equipment just doesn’t seem to exist for the research you are conducting? Why not work with us to design a high-quality, custom-made product? At NHBS, we have a team of engineers and seamstresses experienced in metalwork, woodwork and textile construction who are happy to chat with you about your specific requirements. Simply fill out the form below, including details of your project and the type of equipment you require, and one of our engineers will get back to you as soon as possible.
This sheet has been made for collecting aquatic beetles around the world. Vegetation such as leaves, roots, debris and fauna are filtered out of the water, and then put onto the middle of the sampling sheet where the fine mesh allows quick draining of the water while preventing even the smallest beetles from passing through. The orange collar protects the sheet and at the same time can be folded up to contain samples.
We used similar, self-made sheets for decades, but the fabric was often not suitable for our purposes; NHBS made the perfect product for our work; of the four sheets made, I already gave away two to our friends in Colombia and Cuba – it makes sampling so much more efficient, is easy to carry and quick-dry.'
Michael Balke, Curator of Coleoptera, Zoological State Collection in Munich
These Ichtyoplankton nets were made for the Zoological Society of London to monitor the use of the river Thames by juvenile fish. The unique design of these nets features a square frame with a four-point bridle and connections for a flow meter. It also has a diving vane which ensures that it can be towed stably at a set depth, and a screw-on cod end with a 53µm and 250µm mesh bag.
It was great to work with NHBS, who listened to our specific needs to design bespoke sampling nets for juvenile fish and used their experience to adapt our designs to fit our needs.
Anna Cucknell, Thames Project Manager, Zoological Society of London
Based on a design by Henry Andrews from the Bat Tree Habitat Key (BTHK) project, this net provides a safe and effective method of trapping bats emerging from roost sites in trees. Featuring a long collapsible handle and an adjustable net head, the net will catch any bats that are flying out of the tree and keep them safely in the bag for identification, measuring and ringing. This net is reviewed in the BTHK project Bat Roosts in Trees book.
I’ve been telling everyone how fantastic the net you made for me is. I’m really impressed with the build quality and the net design is exactly what I was looking for.
Henry Andrews, Bat Tree Habitat Key (BTHK) project
