my first figure four deadfall with pics and trigger video

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malente

Life member
Jan 14, 2007
894
2
Germany
After reading a thread on another forum about figure four deadfalls, and having seen them in various survival type shows, I wanted to have a go.

This is my first attempt ever at making one of these.

I know that trapping is illegal in many places. This is simply testing my skill to make one of these for survival situations. I would never use it otherwise. If you ever have to use them, check them regularly and dispatch any caught critters quick and humanly to minimise suffering.

Setting: in my garden, with three young kids around. Sorry for the not so bushcrafty setting :rolleyes:

As instructions I only googled "figure 4 deadfall" once and looked at one pictorial (this here).

As wood I took an old, dry peace of bamboo (I think) and as tool my Gerber Gator. The serrations on the knife came in handy to make the sawing type cuts easier.

1. Grab a stick
5012727240_ddd8b376e3.jpg


2. Grab a knife (not at the sharp end)
5012727442_0dc11d121d.jpg


3. Cut three pieces, short, medium, and long
5012727638_61f70de0eb.jpg


4. Now lay the pieces as a figure four on the ground and mark the spots where you will make the notches. Watch out for where the notches exactly are (on the side, front or back, and which side). (sorry no pic)

5. Grab the medium stick and cut a square notch at the marked position at the side and sharpen the top. The medium stick will be the vertical stick, with the pointy end pointing upwards.
5012124909_9a2972d455.jpg


6. Grab the short stick and sharpen one end to a point and make a v type groove near the other end. This will be the sloping stick, with the pointy end pointing downwards.
5012728100_a9ac092606.jpg


7. Grab the long stick and make a square notch at the marker and make sure it fits the notch of the medium stick notch. Make a v type groove near the other end. This will be the horizontal stick with the bait on it that triggers the deadfall.
5012728298_1aef213d90.jpg


8. Assemble under something heavy. Watch your fingers!
5012728522_2f17f4b8f0.jpg


9. Action!
[video=youtube;Hh9FjEsHvPM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9FjEsHvPM[/video]

The whole thing took me about half an hour to assemble, including taking the pictures.

What I learned:
- My deadfall was to solid. I think I overengineered it (I am German after all :rolleyes:)
- It is too big! It would have taken a monster squirrel to trigger it. Or the pesky neighbour dog. Hmmmm... :D
- I will use different knives and different woods (native woods) to increase the speed and trigger mechanism.
- It was fun!

Hope you like it!

Mike
 

UltimateSurvivor

Tenderfoot
Aug 13, 2010
59
0
Richmond North Yorkshire.
Great stuff Mike. A really solid construction that could make a superb dead fall for catching small game!

It could be turned into a good trap by reducing the friction on your points of leverage. It'll take a few attemtps to get it to a "hair trigger" standard but it's deffinately do-able with that set up.

Great stuff buddy.

Regards.
 

sargey

Mod
Mod
Member of Bushcraft UK Academy
Sep 11, 2003
2,695
8
cheltenham, glos
yeah, but with a fig-4 deadfall and a laundry basket you can traps inquisitive kittens!

if it works, it works.

next step, find faster and lighter triggers.

cheers, and.
 

malente

Life member
Jan 14, 2007
894
2
Germany
Cheers all for your comments! It is really easy to make one of these, the hard part is obvious, getting the trigger right. I will make another few and see if I can improve.

Mike
 

salad

Full Member
Sep 24, 2008
1,779
133
51
In the Mountains
I found the bottom one easyer to make and had a better trigger mech.
It is based on an american planes indian deadfall trap.(paiute)
 
Last edited:

nuggets

Native
Jan 31, 2010
1,070
0
england
After reading a thread on another forum about figure four deadfalls, and having seen them in various survival type shows, I wanted to have a go.

This is my first attempt ever at making one of these.

I know that trapping is illegal in many places. This is simply testing my skill to make one of these for survival situations. I would never use it otherwise. If you ever have to use them, check them regularly and dispatch any caught critters quick and humanly to minimise suffering.

Setting: in my garden, with three young kids around. Sorry for the not so bushcrafty setting :rolleyes:

As instructions I only googled "figure 4 deadfall" once and looked at one pictorial (this here).

As wood I took an old, dry peace of bamboo (I think) and as tool my Gerber Gator. The serrations on the knife came in handy to make the sawing type cuts easier.

1. Grab a stick
5012727240_ddd8b376e3.jpg


2. Grab a knife (not at the sharp end)
5012727442_0dc11d121d.jpg


3. Cut three pieces, short, medium, and long
5012727638_61f70de0eb.jpg


4. Now lay the pieces as a figure four on the ground and mark the spots where you will make the notches. Watch out for where the notches exactly are (on the side, front or back, and which side). (sorry no pic)

5. Grab the medium stick and cut a square notch at the marked position at the side and sharpen the top. The medium stick will be the vertical stick, with the pointy end pointing upwards.
5012124909_9a2972d455.jpg


6. Grab the short stick and sharpen one end to a point and make a v type groove near the other end. This will be the sloping stick, with the pointy end pointing downwards.
5012728100_a9ac092606.jpg


7. Grab the long stick and make a square notch at the marker and make sure it fits the notch of the medium stick notch. Make a v type groove near the other end. This will be the horizontal stick with the bait on it that triggers the deadfall.
5012728298_1aef213d90.jpg


8. Assemble under something heavy. Watch your fingers!
5012728522_2f17f4b8f0.jpg


9. Action!
[video=youtube;Hh9FjEsHvPM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9FjEsHvPM[/video]

The whole thing took me about half an hour to assemble, including taking the pictures.

What I learned:
- My deadfall was to solid. I think I overengineered it (I am German after all :rolleyes:)
- It is too big! It would have taken a monster squirrel to trigger it. Or the pesky neighbour dog. Hmmmm... :D
- I will use different knives and different woods (native woods) to increase the speed and trigger mechanism.
- It was fun!

Hope you like it!

Mike

have ya tried using a `bagel` as bait ???
 

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