I just use coffee filters.

I like the blue shop towels myself. Has multiple applications and I dont use paper filters to make coffee anymore .

I've thought about the garden weed control felt, just haven't. Filters to me are super easy. To each his own.

Which legend bestowed us this blessing of knowledge? If it was April 1st it would make perfect sense lol !

Polyfill works fine for me.

This stick tip makes no sense.

YJ I use poly fill or wax paper but I'm really wanting an explanation on this stick thingy.
My take on this which might be totally wrong is.... some inexperienced person that wants to be a legend thought the purpose of an under all or poly fiil was to hold the pan up and decided to show everyone how clever they were and came up with what they thought was a simpler idea to do the same thing. It's the only explanation i can come up for this idea.They also figured out in their mind the fresh pine would be best because it smells good. I'm betting the "legend" can't be named because he wants to fly under the radar which would of course make it impossible to be a legend if no one knew about u.
Maybe this will get an explanation of how the stick helps the trap fire when dirt gets under the pan.

Nothing personal but that’s a silly idea using a stick!! Use a file. Learn how to adjust traps or just buy some good coil spring traps and be done with it!!!

I've tried the polyfill in limited settings, and it just seams like if the set has to soak for a time the fine soil that we have will just filter into it, and will limit the pan travel too much(which could be a tuning problem I spose). The fact that we have little indication who came up with the stick seems to be either, like you stated, or just to get a conversation going, or to steer someone in the wrong direction! I like to give folks on here the benefit of the doubt, so I'll let him weigh in. Until then, I won't ponder it too much.

What kind of vechile did this Legend drive?

It's about enabling the trap to fire when soil gets under the pan, pan tension is just a side benefit.

The OP use to go by Tofan and has posted some off the wall stuff he had no experience with before .

small dowell.

That explains it all, didnt realize that is who the OP was.

Ok, so we are trying to Build a Better Pan Cover? Plenty of very good options already mentioned. Brown coffee filters work great for me.

Who showed you this?

Not hijacking this thread, just 2 cents from my peanut gallery........... If you are trapping where your soil is silty clay w/o much sand, the warmer daytime temp will thaw that/any frozen soil and allow the moisture to to move up/into the filter and refreeze when the temp drops. Coffee filters are like paper towels here,,, they absorb any ground moisture above 32 degrees (even frost) and can form a shell around the trap pan then harden during colder temps for me. Rain before a cold snap is the worse for me, making them really ineffective for a dependable cover. ................................ the mike

MattLA is Tofan? I wondered where he went. Figured that new electric F1fiddy may still be charging...

Unfortunately some of the old methods where deliberate to prevent competition. I know of a fella who is well respected in the trapping community. At the age of 12 the young man was looking for advice on how to trap Fox. The local fox trapper took the young man out to teach him how to catch a fox. The old trapper explain to the young man on how to make a dirt hole set. Then told him to set the trap upside down. The reason being. Fox are so clever. They new there was a trap set. So the fox would try flipping the trap. And get caught. At 12 the young man took this as gospel. Needless to say many snapped traps. This was during the early 1970s when fur prices where increasing. The young man figured he had been gullible. Figured it out on his own. Became a very profitable fox trapper. Bought a car and put himself thru college with those beautiful $100.00 fox pelts. So the age of misinformation is nothing new. Just more prevalent now. That stick in the trap jaw is a good way to catch nothing

I have NEVER had a pan not trip using polyfil or a screen. I have had the jaws cement into place, even then the pan would depress. I’ve caught with polyfil under the pan and screen after 5” of rain.
I don’t like offset traps due to a small stick or pebble getting between the jaws and creating a wider gap than what’s already there. Couldn’t imagine intentionally setting something to create an even wider gap.

Some offset jawed traps have better debris gaps than other.