New guy question. What safety latches do you guys recommend for conibears??

Trappers safety pin

^ Agreed. Greatest thing ever. I own 2-3 of them now. They’re incredibly easy to use and easy to find underwater which is nice.

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSRCPin.html

Yep, agree with the above two. I did replace the "rope" on mine as the nylon it came with would slide apart at the "splices".

This is what I use.

I like to live near the edge.
I depend on natural cat-like agility, and retractable junk parts.

I use the Bridger one as shown here https://www.minntrapprod.com/Bridger-Safety-Grip/productinfo/BRSAFETY/, haven't used it on any big conibears but I've heard it's rated up to a 330, only used on the little conibears.

Bridger connibear safety tool is the one I like and use

Ever sense I switched to Belisle traps I see no need for them. The safeties stay on until last and they don't fall off on their own. Much safer than other brands.

Doesnt work on belilse 330s or similar trap with kill bars. You can use itnon the side but not a fan of that..

Luckily I don't have that Belilse kind of money, plus I've heard they're good enough to not even need a secondary safety.

There are some awkward situations where you're handling the trap mote than normal where it's nice to have on hand. Especially when thre triggers are on the bottom

I use them on belisles. Especially when they are underwater and I need to clean grass off them. I put the safety pin on and then reach down and engage their safeties. I don't want to take any chances. I got a thumb in a belisle 280, I thought I had both safeties engaged, but one wasn't fully clipped. Even 1 spring hurts on those.

I like the one you can pull the string and lift it off the trap when the trap is in a den entrance under 4 feet of water and ice.That way if it goes off when placing the trap thru some feed you dont have to re-set the springs,and just pull the string and the safety hook comes off once the trap is in place.
Plus when making tee pee sets you have to disengage the spring dogs before setting the trap.

I used that Bridger one for a number of years and I just felt like the larger the trap, the less confidence I had in it. Plus with it being so small, I felt like it was sorta taking fine motor skills to use it, especially when taking it off under water. The Trap Safety Pin I use now, besides having full confidence in it, is so quick and easy and also large enough that it's easier to find underwater. I don't think there's anything wrong with the Bridger one and that seems to be the most common one I see in stores or at conventions and stuff, but I think the TSP is better for me. Switching to that and switching to locking Conibear setters a few years ago were two things that I felt like just added to my efficiency, that's all.

That being said, I don't own any Belisles and have always wanted to, largely because those safeties are super nice. Is it possible to buy replacement Belisle safeties and put them on other brands' Conis? Has anyone done that? I've wondered that for a while but haven't really looked into it yet.

I was thinking the same thing with Belisle's safeties but I haven't found anyone that sells just the safeties.

Someone had a body grip modification thread, maybe Nessmuck, that showed how to wrap the regular safeties with wire to make them behave like the Belisle safeties. I did it to a few of my traps and it works nice.

Well, that doesn't work apparently. Do a search for Nessmucks tip of the day #4. He did a whole series on conibears, from safeties to triggers. Great threads.

Here is a picture if this works.

Body Grip Wire Wrapped Safeties