Trappers wanted more and better options with the trigger wires. We heard it regularly, so we came up with two new trigger wires for the 9x11 because wires sometimes broke and wires got bent after catches were made and had to be straightened inside the cage. The first new trigger wire was a clip on trigger that can be attached in seconds at any position on the swing bar. It is made to fall off after a catch is made. These are a plus because a trapper can use as many or few as he likes and position them anywhere he wants on the swing bar. Wires can get bent a bit, but after falling off they can be straightened outside of the trap and replaced. Second we made a pop on trigger from stainless spring steel with coils on each end to go onto posts on the swing bar. The ends pop on in seconds. These wires are also made to fall off after a catch is made for less damage to the wires. Two come on the swing bar, but with some animals only one is needed, like an adult woodchuck or armadillo for instance. There are 4 posts on the swing bar so that the wires overlap at center. With the new designs there are no points to potentially poke an animal, so the new triggers satisfied several issues.
With all internal trigger components these are the only traps that have the ability to set and function in any position without worry, like upside down or sideways, even vertically, but with that many new things were learned from something that had never been done before. When these traps are set with the doors closing from the side the triggers can be made to hang from the top and also come up from the bottom. All options are open. When the wires come up from the bottom it forces animals into them better, impossible to avoid. When using the beaver traps upside down the wires come up from the bottom in the same way. My friend Tim in Ohio has set our traps with the triggers coming up from the bottom and found that coon more or less left them alone and did not bend them like they did when hanging from the top or coming from the side. The just walked on them. But, from trappers we have learned that there is a vast difference in animals from one section of the country to another in how they react to all sorts of things.
I can tell you when anyone shares their experiences with us about something unexpected that happened, we were on it. Raccoons have absolutely been the worst. We used 1x1 mesh on early traps, including doors. After a year we heard that coon could actually reach through the mesh to pull on the lock bar. A trapper told me on the phone, "all you have to do is put 1/2x1 on the door to stop it." We did it, changed the next day. Because of the versatility of traps and guys setting them upside down etc. we learned things that never would have ever been an issue with standard traps set only right side up. The new setting possibilities opened up new challenges never anticipated. The gap at the top of the door was about an inch on the 9x11. It took 10 years before we heard of a coon again reaching through the opening when the traps were set upside down because a coon could lay on his belly and now reach under the top of the door that would never happen when set normally right side up. Set upside down changed the game. I was on the phone to manufacture in minutes and the gap was closed in hours.
I know from 55 years experience, if something happens once to one trapper, though not always, it will likely happen again, so changes to existing equipment are never avoided, but embraced. We want to hear about whatever needs attention. The challenge in creating is engineering simple, small, practical, solid, unbreakable and escape proof to name a few, lots to think about. It's not always one size fits all as changes are sometimes merely trade-offs, good for one and not for the other.
