primitive trap

[stuart f]

Hi folks,i spent the day in the shed carrying on with a few different bushcraft projects i,ve had on the go for a while.Anyway i was playing about with some Nettle cordage that i made and got too wondering if the fibre would stand up to being used in a deadfall trap.
In fact it did the job admirably,mind you i have got some nice scrapes and bruises just setting it up,it is quite tricky and a bit of a balancing act to get it right.

The trap is the Paiute deadfall which is different from the normal figure 4 deadfall as it uses cordage,this trap has the finest of hair triggers to catch anything from Mice upto Rabbit sized animals,oh and hands if your not to careful.

I thought some of you might like a look.

I was thinking of using the kids Guinea pigs to be well Guinea pigs for the trap but i think i would'nt be the most popular dad,now would i :bluThinki :sad6:
Thanks for looking. Stuart.

 

[sapper1]

That looks like a hairtrigger, good looking trap.

 

[BigShot]

Just how hairtrigger is it?

Would it be sensitive enough to catch a small gust of wind?
I find trapping and snaring quite interesting so would like to know how much/little it would take to get this trap to fire.

Some nice looking work there though. I made my first nettle cordage the other day - was thoroughly chuffed with myself. Wasn't anything like as tricky as I expected - though it was a lot more time consuming.

 

[Shewie]

If your shed is anything like ours I`d leave the trap there for the night, you probably have an elephant in the morning

Nice setup Stuart thanks for sharing

 

[mortalmerlin]

Good looking trap, is the cord under much tension?

 

[stuart f]

Hi folks, i will try to answer some questions.

BigShot Just how hairtrigger is it?

Would it be sensitive enough to catch a small gust of wind?
I find trapping and snaring quite interesting so would like to know how much/little it would take to get this trap to fire.

Hi Bigshot,this trap is sensitive and i suppose a good gust of wind could trip it. But that said Larry Dean Olsen said that since he started using this trap his catch rate went up 10 fold,as opposed too using the normal figure 4 deadfall.


Mortalmerlin Good looking trap, is the cord under much tension?

Hi Mortalmerlin, the cord is under some tension and that was the reason for trying out my Nettle cordage,to see if it could cope. you could just use para cord if you were unsure about natural cordage holding out.
Hope this is of some help.


Oh just as a side note you will notice that the upright bar is at an angle and not straight upwards,underneath the stone,the reason for this is that when sprung the trap components are flung free apart for the bait bar which will be underneath the stone,with hopefully your tea. If the upright bar is straight and directly under the stone there is a chance that when sprung,the stone can land on the mechanism and break the components,and you have to make a new trap from scratch.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Barney]

fine looking trap Stewart.

Does the nettle cord stretch in the rain? I can see it will be well strong enough otherwise.

 

[stuart f]

fine looking trap Stewart.

Does the nettle cord stretch in the rain? I can see it will be well strong enough otherwise.

Hi Barney,to be honest i'm not very sure about the stretch issue as i've only ever before used para cord myself when practicing with this trap,i think i will set it back up again tomorrow and pour some water on the cord to see of it has any ill effects on the cord.
Cheers Stuart.

 

[spiritofold]

Like to see how it would work with rats

 

[Barney]

you can just see a pesky little rat coming out from under the shed.....BLAP>>>

 

[BigShot]

Thanks for the response Stuart.

 

[mick miller]

This is the same trap as used by the Paiute indians is it not? Very similar to the figure four deadfall. These are both effective and simple traps to build, good work.

You should have a play with the arapuca bird trap too, again a nice simple trap. I think one of the members here put a you tube tutorial up at some point. Worth having a browse for.

 

[ZDP-189]

I was thinking of using the kids Guinea pigs to be well Guinea pigs for the trap but i think i would'nt be the most popular dad,now would i :bluThinki :sad6:
Thanks for looking. Stuart.

Can you build a safety-cage? We want video!

 

[Joe]

Hi,

Nice trap! Just be wary about leaving it set and wandering off. Traps are completely indiscriminate as you know. I've caught all sorts of stuff in my youth that I didn't intend to catch and it would be awful to see next doors cat's feet poking out from underneath the fallen rock when you come back to it.

I caught a massive rat in a very primitive deadfall trap using only sticks, withes and logs and i only left it for a couple of minutes while I went off to greet the group I was just about to teach.

 

[Joe]

Forgot to mention that that type of trap is more effective if you have another hard surface at ground level that the rock / log falls onto, otherwise the poor creature is just hammered into the soft ground like wily coyote. The other hard object could just be a flat rock set into the ground or a split log and it's often referred to as an 'anvil'.

 

[stuart f]

Hi Joe,yeah totally agree with you on that one,any traps i've practiced with have been dismantled as soon as i've finished with them. This trap i fired myself with a stick and is back inside my shed. The stone i used is also my sanding block for bone and antler work so its to good to be left lying about.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[TaTanka]

Forgot to mention that that type of trap is more effective if you have another hard surface at ground level that the rock / log falls onto, otherwise the poor creature is just hammered into the soft ground like wily coyote. The other hard object could just be a flat rock set into the ground or a split log and it's often referred to as an 'anvil'.

A very good point. Often the Paiute didn't need use of an anvil because the ground was so hard it would suffice, hence many trapping guides I've found leave that part out. Desert ground tends to be pretty hard, around here tent stakes tend to be 8 inch steel nails driven with a hand sledge as anything else will bend or break and be useless, and I'm not even actually in a desert.