Are Deadfalls outdated

Oh, deadfalls? Totally outdated. I'm surprised anyone even mentions them anymore. I now trap all my prey with a cell phone. I no longer need a deadfall to trap my pizza. I just make a call and my prey is delivered to my door.
 
In my mind practicing and utilizing skills like that is a joy unto itself... (enter bushcraft vs. survivalism) in the face of modern conveniences you could say deadfalls are outdated.. as well as snares..because there are commercial made traps that are "potentially" more effective.. friction fires are outdated.. you can just carry a lighter... you can say long bows are outdated because you can have a compound bow or a gun, compasses are out dated because you can have gps..this way of thinking lends itself to allot of ultralite hikers I know...and allot of people that are well integrated into the relative comfort that modern conveniences and innovations that today's society can afford. technologies can become outdated..the betamax for example (can't find to many of those around) but skill sets regardless of there relevance are fulfilling to pursue.

When allot of people see me practicing they say...Why would you ever need to do that...the truth is I probably never would..but I enjoy it...when your roasting a squiirel you trapped over a fire you made...that's the good stuff...it speaks to an often dormant part of my personality...maybe part of a collective personality that is within us all. One that speaks to us of the way things used to be...maybe the way thngs should be??? I won't get into that,, I stopped philophizing when they made me get rid of my bong LOL..

But if and when the "fit hits the shan" and everyone is crying because thier cell phones and microwaves don't work ... I'll be warm by the fire carving up some deadfalls...
 
Like Tony has illustrated, deadfalls are ideal for small critters that might be hard to snare. If I wanted to catch anything bigger than a rat, I'd be inclined to set a snare because of the work involved in making a heavy, reliable deadfall.
 
RR,

You bring up a good point. I think a mistake is made when we see education as merely a means to and end... it should be also viewed as an end within itself.

TF
 
Talfuchre said:
A DOC SIGHTING!!!!!
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Haha, no kidding! Hey Doc, how've you been? :)

Coming from a newb perspective, the figure 4 deadfall is the first trap I want to learn and practice with because it requires only a knife and your brain. I think I'd probably want the knowledge and ability to utilize both simple traps and simple snares in any survival situation.
 
Talfuchre said:
RR,

You bring up a good point. I think a mistake is made when we see education as merely a means to and end... it should be also viewed as an end within itself.

TF
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Aw bawlz, you lost me again....... that statement had philosofizin' to it..... I don't do more that one plane of thought per post. Maybe it'll come to me later.:yawn:
 
The less that I have to carry with me the better. I wish that everything was as easy to improvise as a deadfall.
 
RescueRiley said:
But if and when the "fit hits the shan" and everyone is crying because thier cell phones and microwaves don't work ... I'll be warm by the fire carving up some deadfalls...
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Hah! Shows what you know. If my cell phone doesn't work, I'll just use the INTERNET!

Oh....wait...
 
Mate of mine watches TV by candle light, when the power goes out.
He has a tv card ( some sort of antenna decoder thingy) plugged into his laptop.
Carl
 
warrigal said:
Mate of mine watches TV by candle light, when the power goes out.
He has a tv card ( some sort of antenna decoder thingy) plugged into his laptop.
Carl
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Yes, but that all assumes the power will come back on, eventually. What if it doesn't?
 
tonym said:
I still use them!


flint016.jpg


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Best part is no mess or blood

flint015.jpg
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gotta ask...did you eat him? :D
 
Bushman5 said:
anyone ever built REALLY big deadfalls, like the man deadfalls? 9ie: 24" wide logs...... )
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That sounds a wee bit precarious to set up, since the prey must be huge and that means the 'weight' must be even huger. :eek: I drop rocks on my thumbs enough, thanks!
 
anyone ever built REALLY big deadfalls, like the man deadfalls? 9ie: 24" wide logs...... )
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TonyM and i once built a really big one that would have held the weight about 4 feet off the ground, but the only suitable weight we had would have taken 20 guys to lift (or at least a 10:1 pulley with 5-10 guys)...and it would have snapped the whole trigger to bits anyways. it was really just to demonstrate how a fig.4 worked...looking back i think that a properly scaled version would have sufficed...
 
Deadfalls aren't outdated and they will never be. They just work and if used and placed correctly, they are effective.
 
A question to those who have successfully used a dead fall to take an animal.

When you processed the animal, was there any indication of damage to the internal organs, that might have allowed the contents of the gastrointestinal tract to leak out, tainting the meat in the process?

I'd be interested in your answers.

Thanks in advance :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
SouthernCross said:
When you processed the animal, was there any indication of damage to the internal organs, that might have allowed the contents of the gastrointestinal tract to leak out, tainting the meat in the process?
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Hmm, I would have thought the satisfaction of smooshing something would have been enough... but I suppose if you're actually going to eat the meat, yeah, this could be a liability in severe cases.
 
Not at all outdated. They're a tool in your survival toolbox like any other. As others have said, many don't require cordage whereas snares do.

The Athabascans (and other cultures) used a design that was scalable in size to kill anything from mink to bear.

I carry the makings for several designs in my head :) The latest one I looked at was John McPherson's. Neat!
 
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