Setting a 220
01-25-2017, 11:19 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 386
Setting a 220
I just had arm / shoulder surgery. Trying to set a 220 is not easy.
I tried the rope method.
I'm trying the spreader, not easy.
I'm resorting to a vice, and it's working. But that means I have to set them in my basement.
Any other ideas?
I tried the rope method.
I'm trying the spreader, not easy.
I'm resorting to a vice, and it's working. But that means I have to set them in my basement.
Any other ideas?
01-26-2017, 04:11 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,436
I would not carry around a bunch of 220 conibear traps that are set, I don't trust the safety at all, it is made to hold the tension only until the trap is set and then be released. You don't say what you are trapping for but perhaps you should switch to leg hold traps until your strength is back.
01-27-2017, 09:27 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
If you are not doing so already, take a setting board with you. Having a solid backing under your trap as you set it makes a big difference. I use setting ropes to get me started, then step on them to flatten it out to set. Biggest thing I screw up on is having my safety or my triggers in the wrong position when I start, so I get LOTS of practice setting the "jaws".
No force in Heaven or He11 could convince me to carry a set conibear from my house to my set!!! Let alone a bunch of them!!!
No force in Heaven or He11 could convince me to carry a set conibear from my house to my set!!! Let alone a bunch of them!!!
02-26-2017, 04:11 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
No schitt, my thought exactly...
Whether the zip ties hold or not, you're still going to be at risk when you clip them in the field.
Just learn how to set them in the field. Way too many of us idiots have figured it out over the years for you to get left behind. Take a setting board, work on how you use your setting-ropes, and figure out your technique.
Setting traps, especially conibears, doesn't come without practice. About a year ago, my dad called with a problem. I'll preface this by pointing out, my dad trapped for over 30yrs when he was younger, but hadn't set a conibear in about 20yrs. A warden we know dropped off a batch of conibears he confiscated for my dad to have (knowing he's a furharvester), but dad called me and said he'd spent the better part of 2hrs trying to remember how to set them without almost breaking his ankle or ripping off his fingers. When I pulled into his driveway, there was a conibear sitting in the yard with welding glove stuck in the jaws (had to laugh at that). Within a few times showing him how I do it (which is how HE SHOWED ME about 25yrs ago), the rust was knocked off and he was setting them with ease.
I said it before, but again - No force in Heaven or He11 could make me carry a set conibear from house to field, and certainly not a whole trap line of them.
And what, pray tell, is your plan if you catch something in the field? bring the trap back to the house to reset it, then haul it back out there? What in the world are you going to do if your line is productive? Haul half of your sets to the house and back every day??
Forgive my incredulity, but consider the tenor of my response here as a perspective on how foolish the endeavor might be. Without exaggeration, it's not much different, in my opinion, than planning to juggle with loaded and cocked single action revolvers, considering yourself safe simply because you zip tied the hammer back.
Whether the zip ties hold or not, you're still going to be at risk when you clip them in the field.
Just learn how to set them in the field. Way too many of us idiots have figured it out over the years for you to get left behind. Take a setting board, work on how you use your setting-ropes, and figure out your technique.
Setting traps, especially conibears, doesn't come without practice. About a year ago, my dad called with a problem. I'll preface this by pointing out, my dad trapped for over 30yrs when he was younger, but hadn't set a conibear in about 20yrs. A warden we know dropped off a batch of conibears he confiscated for my dad to have (knowing he's a furharvester), but dad called me and said he'd spent the better part of 2hrs trying to remember how to set them without almost breaking his ankle or ripping off his fingers. When I pulled into his driveway, there was a conibear sitting in the yard with welding glove stuck in the jaws (had to laugh at that). Within a few times showing him how I do it (which is how HE SHOWED ME about 25yrs ago), the rust was knocked off and he was setting them with ease.
I said it before, but again - No force in Heaven or He11 could make me carry a set conibear from house to field, and certainly not a whole trap line of them.
And what, pray tell, is your plan if you catch something in the field? bring the trap back to the house to reset it, then haul it back out there? What in the world are you going to do if your line is productive? Haul half of your sets to the house and back every day??
Forgive my incredulity, but consider the tenor of my response here as a perspective on how foolish the endeavor might be. Without exaggeration, it's not much different, in my opinion, than planning to juggle with loaded and cocked single action revolvers, considering yourself safe simply because you zip tied the hammer back.
Last edited by Nomercy448; 02-26-2017 at 04:17 PM.
02-26-2017, 04:37 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 386
It's not as bad as you feel. 2 zip ties will hold anything. Especially the beefier ones.
Then you use a Conibear safety gripper as you normally would. Once the safety gripper is in place,, you cut the zip ties with dykes, and do as your normally would.
Then you use a Conibear safety gripper as you normally would. Once the safety gripper is in place,, you cut the zip ties with dykes, and do as your normally would.
02-26-2017, 05:49 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
Different strokes for different folks I guess. If you're not trapping much and not far from the house, and don't mind laying scent all over your line twice a day instead of once, a lot of things can work. Some make a lot more sense than others. I had 80 water sets out this winter, some an hour from my house. I can't imagine driving back with 30 of them, setting them at the vise at home, then driving all the way back out to set them.
I understood the process you proposed the first time - it's not rocket science. I hope, for your sake, you're not surprised as I believe you'll be at how poor even "industrial" zip ties will hold a conibear loaded. I'd be confident a lot of them will hold, but the risk of ONE not holding is enough for me to not point a cocked gun at my face. Between installing the zip ties and removing them, there's just too much risk to make sense to me when it's really so easy to load them in the field.
The rope method works, I use steel O-rings on the end of my ropes to make them slide easier.
I understood the process you proposed the first time - it's not rocket science. I hope, for your sake, you're not surprised as I believe you'll be at how poor even "industrial" zip ties will hold a conibear loaded. I'd be confident a lot of them will hold, but the risk of ONE not holding is enough for me to not point a cocked gun at my face. Between installing the zip ties and removing them, there's just too much risk to make sense to me when it's really so easy to load them in the field.
The rope method works, I use steel O-rings on the end of my ropes to make them slide easier.
