This is my second season with the extreams and they are the trap I use the most. The pan sets below the jaws, and has pleanty of pan tension for full pad catches with the pan flopping, the tension stays consistent. During foot guiding I set a dirt clod, a leaf with a little dirt on it to hold it in place, or a small pile of dirt on the hinge point of the pan to keep the critter stepping on the live part of the pan. These traps lock up strong! I had six NO-BS traps in one field and two NO-BS traps in another field along with one MB650 run over by cotton pickers and large tractors this season. Three had minimal frame bending, a couple strokes with a shop press and they are good as new. The 650 was toast. I also found the jaw bolts to be a little tight, so I loosened them one quarter of a turn and this freed the jaws up nicely. The first traps I ordered with out the coating. The second ones with the coating. I think the coating is a plus but you still need to wax to protect the inner surfaces of the springs, and the jaw and pan pivot points. My traps are four coiled, off set, and outside laminated. I almost forgot. I had one trap box bladed from the middle of a farm road, the j hook opened up and the tractor tumbled and shined my trap up nicely and then left in a pile of dirt. I put some new chain, swivles an super stake on it and was back in business. This is a quality trap!