Traps don't have to be complicated !

[pitdog]

I see some amazing traps on youtube and on various survival forums but I often find them too complicated to make.

Practicing a few simple ones regularly seems to work for me.

Here is a very basic trip set up that can be used in conjunction with snares or deadfalls.
You don't even need a knife to make this trap although I did use one today just to put points on the ones that went in the ground as the ground was quite hard.

All the components were found within 10 feet of where I stood and while the vine cordage wasn't the greatest it still worked.......never any Cedar roots when I want em !!!!

By pitdog2010 at 2011-06-01

By pitdog2010 at 2011-06-01

By pitdog2010 at 2011-06-01

While out today I came across this plant which I think is Bedstraw, if it is then it is another wild edible to add to my list. Can anyone confirm it ?

By pitdog2010 at 2011-06-01

 

[fugawee]

Cool pics

I see the spring loaded tree tied to the stick
its hooked under that cross branch
how does the animal "trip" that setup?
I imaginer you would add a noose somewhere

 

[Shotgun]

To be honest I think the reason you see overly complicated builds is because it's more of a hobby to people then training for a survival scenario. Simpler is almost always better and that holds true for life in general IMO. 5 simple traps is better then 1 intricate one.

 

[pitdog]

Cool pics

I see the spring loaded tree tied to the stick
its hooked under that cross branch
how does the animal "trip" that setup?
I imaginer you would add a noose somewhere

Your dead right buddy, that is just a spring set up.
You could add a line with a noose to the existing cord and place it under the horzontal trip stick, the trip stick would then have some sort of bait on.
Another option would be to make it a platform trap by laying sticks onto the trip stick and covering them in leaf matter so it is tripped when an animal steps on the platform.
Instead of the using the bent tree you could have a cord going up over a branch and a deadfall attached as another variation.

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

I've always shied away from using and teaching complicated traps. The first rule of survival is "K.I.S.S.", afterall. I know about four or five traps, those are the ones I practice regularly and the ones I use when I'm teaching people.
The figure 4, a squirrel pole, a regular old snare noose, a regular twitch up, and a toggle twitch up. I used some large fish hooks and picture wire anchored to a stake once and hidden in the circumfrence of a run, it worked pretty well.

Too many parts is too many places for failure, imho. But, I still like watching some of the You Tube vids. I have a few downloaded to my laptop; one of them is this wild guy who looks like a Neo-nazi (I don't guess he is, but he missed a good chance at it!) that shows how make the Vietnamese deadman door trap, and then a homemade pressure switch. Good stuff. Another shows how to make the bow trap of the Manzi people. Wicked good stuff.