I am looking for something that would cover the entire bed. They are all over the place pricewise. Some of them look like they are tangle prone nightmare.

 

I had one on a Comanche I owned once back in the late 80's...it was called the "Pickup Spidey" or something weird like that. Looked like a big spider web and it worked great. It was just a bunch of bungee cords stitched together.

Edit:

I found it, they still sell them. Not sure if this is what you mean or not....

http://www.autoanything.com/hitch-be...A6225A0A0.aspx

 

I have one, they work well for loose stuff, but, there are a couple of drawbacks:

• They do tangle, and where you'd like to throw it over the load like a tarp, you spend a bunch of time untangling the hooks, and deciding which way it goes.
• Once you have the thing spread over the load ready to hook up, there's no place on the bed front and tailgate to attach the hooks. I use another bungy cord front and back between the bed sides as a place to attach the cover hooks.

I don't use this thing much anymore. I find that a cheap tarp is just as good and a lot quicker to use. I use it more to cover cargo on my small trailer rather than on the Dakota - on the trailer, I have hook points all around.

 

I own and have used several, for many purposes. For what they are, they all do about the same thing, and the generic harbor freight ones are actually a better value http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...net-69616.html
because they now come with plastic hooks instead of the metal ones.

The best use for these is over a tarp, and I have one that I have made special with the tarp grommets tied in next to each hook, so I load up, toss the tarp, clip it down and go.

They will all tangle, I recommend a snaplink and a small sack. Start with a corner and link all of the hooks [or the closest loop] on the snaplink, then stuff the whole mess in a bag, hooks last. That's about the best you can hope for.

 

I bought the Home Depot version in 72x96 size and found it too big. As Alfons says, there aren't enough hook ups in the bed, and btw I hate those sliders we have. They stick and are terribly frustrating. So I exchanged it for a smaller size but haven't tried it yet.

 

If you take barrysuperhawk's advise and use snaplinks (or any other form of hook with a covered face), that would avoid a lot of the tangle - I'd also suggest putting some colored tape on the 4 corner hooks so you know where to start.

 

If you have it tight when there is no cargo, then you won't have much room to add cargo. I never bothered with the net if the cargo wasn't above bed rail height, so having extra wasn't a problem.

Alfons brought up a point I had forgotten about, on my newer one with the plastic hooks I have my hooks painted, 4 yellow 4 white for left side/right side. It doesn't have to be perfect, just a spot of color to let me know which is which.

Which reminds me of another thing, when I still used the cargo tie downs, I had a handful of Stainless 1/4-20 eye bolts that I would use along the top groove to tie stuff down. I welded the nuts to 3/8" flat washers, then cut the corners so they would slide into the track and not twist. You couldn't lift the truck with them, but they were easily as sturdy as the aluminum track they attached to.

 

OHHH, Aren't you clever! Great Idea! Wood-working supply places sell those bits for making fixtures on saw tables, so if you're not handy (then you better be handsome) you can pick them up there.

I have a tonneau, so I don't need a cargo net, but I just bought a new one to use on our Scout trailer. I got it a Princess Auto - This one! It works well, but does get tangled.