guitar strings as snares?

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xylaria

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Does anyone use guitar strings as snares?

I have quite a few old metal guitar strings. I keep them about in case they become useful someday. Do people that use them as snares only use the smooth top three strings or can the wound bottom strings do. Is the top e string strong enough?

I am not going to go out setting snares I just want to know what which strings to put in with bushcrafty stuff.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
I used to do this many moons ago; the three plain strings will work well, the wound strings I never would use as they can snag too easily. Another good use for the plain G and B strings is folded in half lengthways and twisted so there's a loop left at the end and use this to "fish" into cord to make it really easy to pull a splice through on even really small stuff.
 

Will_

Nomad
Feb 21, 2013
446
3
Dorset
I got me a rabbit with a guitar string last year :D
I think to be legal in the UK snares need to be 6 strand brass (I'm sure hundreds of people will correct me if I'm wrong :D ) but single guitar strings work.
I was snaring somewhere where it was legal. Serbia or somewhere.
 

shaggystu

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 10, 2003
4,345
33
Derbyshire
Rabbit snares need to be six strands of wire (amongst other things) to be legal.

So using guitar strings as Rabbit snares would be illegal.

The law is different for Squirrels though, I believe that single strand guitar strings would be fine for Squirrels.

HTH.

Stuart.
 

didicoy

Full Member
Mar 7, 2013
541
12
fens
I just bought 150m of brass multicore (picture frame hanging wire) I got it for £1 at the carboot sale on saturday (same size bobbin on ebay is £43) I played with it and it makes great snares.
 

xylaria

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Thanks forthe information. The internet has all sorts of stuff. The law is there for a reason, and allthough people in different countries might put youtube videos of guitar string snares, I am proud we live somewhere where animal welfare is important. I did wonder if a buck could break the string. Proper snare wire doesnt break.

I presume a rat would out smart a snare.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,709
1,947
Mercia
Its quite legal to snare rats but not, I find, particularly efficient. They don't outsmart them though :). I prefer either a Mk IV Fenn trap in an artificial tunnel or a cage trap where non target species are prevalent.

For what its worth, the law does not state what snares should be made of - but the Defra code of practice does suggest 3 to 4 strand brass wire doubled with a fixed stop. You could therefore use your strings, however if the material they used kinked and locked, you would be liable to prosecution.
 

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
I have not handled guitar strings so don’t know the particular qualities of the wire used in their construction, however years ago I did a lot of snaring as part of rabbit control. -- Brass is used for rabbit snares because it can tolerate a lot of bending without breaking when twisted into six-strands, also it is not permanently ‘springy’ but retains a certain tension in the wire when the snare is set correctly (when set the loop should spring open again if accidently knocked through temporary tension put into the wire with the hands, incorrectly set the snare will have no tension and NOT spring back open which some people try to counteract by putting a kink into the snare near the peg to hold the loop open which makes the snare less effective), brass loses this temporary tension when the snare is sprung and holds whereas permanently springy wire does not. A brass snare is retensioned/re-shaped with each and every use but springy wire can kink up and be difficult to re-shape due to it’s very springiness, note kinked snares will not run smoothly and a tight kink will drastically weaken the snare. If you want the wire to be specifically for snaring, while any wire/cord etc will catch the odd rabbit personally I would get a couple of brass six-strand rabbit snares with proper eyelets they are cheap enough (incidentally hare snares were eight strand brass when i was doing it back then, don't know latest regs) ATB.
 

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