My thoughts on the Z trap..
Back in the summer I ordered a dozen z’s.. did some adc work on a sweet corn patch and caught around 20.. zero pullouts.. all were staked.. yesterday I put those 12 back out plus 6 original grizz getters.. unfortunately, due to the area, I had to anchor with cable and tie off to trees… the z’s.. I had 6 pull outs and 1 catch.. the grizz .. 3 catches.. no pullouts.. the z’s work good, but the spring is nothing like the grizz’s.. I had to reset all the z’s to where I could finally get a stake to hold…
Lesson learned

Must be the Zs you own. I have 10 dozen Zs. Been using them for several years. I can count pullouts on 1 hand.

I know I’m jinxing myself, but I have 6 year old Dukes I’m still using and no pullouts I’ve had coons wrapped up so bad around trees and brush that I’ve considered cutting the cable.

You are very fortunate. Wrapping around something solid like a tree provides an opportunity to get leverage with the spring against the tree to self release. And we all know what happens if the swivels all get bound up.

I haven't had 6 pull outs of DP's in the 15+ years I have been using them. You're doing something wrong. I have around 12 dozen now but have had a lot more.

I use duke dps

I think with a push-pull trigger that if you fill the trap up to/near top with bait then there is more of a chance of toe catches. Coon may fire trap without his foot being down near trigger.

I favor a bait stuck on the trigger and then a little more, such as grains spinkked down in the trap.

Not sure if the Op's MO is to fill the traps, but this is something I learned over the years about best baiting methods with the Ztraps....due to the push fire trigger.

I really like the Coon Daggers. I guess they're a thing of the past though since the guy who made them passed.

I’ve never had any pull outs with the original grizz getters I bought.. what 20 years ago? But the new z traps are not as strong as those are.. and if they can grab something .. they can pull out… I’m not doing anything different than I ever have.. except using weaker traps..

If you're sure that's the problem then I'll buy those Zs from you.

But, being they're weak springed....they must be CHEAP!

I wonder if you got a bad batch of Ztraps or something. My Ztraps had notably stronger springs than the lil' griz traps. Both worked just fine for me.

I use to fill mine to the top and would get some set off since I started filling half full have a foot stuck in them

I don’t know.. I set them by hand.. and the z’s are quite noticeably easier to compress than my 20 yr old grizz..??

How else can you set a dp other than by hand ?

Some use a setting tool or screwdriver to compress spring.

Never understood why some trappers filled the dp's clear to the top. I've never done that. Just a little under the trigger and a sample sprinkled outside the trap. No need to feed them anymore than you have to.

Yep this is what I was taught and as far as dp's go and I own some of all Grizz and Dukes for pull type and daggers for push pull my z traps are the last I reach for but probably a preference and as far as pull outs the coons probably got lucky wrapped up around trees it doesn't take much to depress spring and they are gone. I try to stake with rebar as much as possible but I still will wrap cable on tree if the situation presents itself that way.

I will give everyone here some of my experience and history with the DP traps. I had been using the Egg, Cuff, Rudy's Black Hole, California etc., type DP's for about 10 years in the 90's and decided there had to be a better design. I would tinker with my ideas but I was a poor trap mechanic and was working on a PVC design. It took knowledge and work to know where and how to set a foot trap AND HOLD a coon back then on dryland while reducing or eliminating non-target wildlife and pets. I believe it was at the NTA's convention in 2000 or 2001 in Iowa Gary Bonnet introduced the Grizz and I knew right then and there I was beaten. I was the first and only trapper (not a dealer) to walk up and purchase 100 grizz's from him then (they were 20.00 each at that convention) and I asked for a discount which he gave me. I knew just from my experience that he and I were thinking in the same stream and he was way ahead and these would work. That fall I caught dryland coons in all the areas I had set previously with foot traps and had NO PULLOUTS/LOSSES. I got the same feeling I got when I set my first four 330 size BG's in '72 and had 3 beaver the next check. Fast forward to that next summer. Gary ran an add for a recall in The Trapper as some of the customers were complaining of pullouts so he would replace the springs for free. I had 96 of the original 100 as someone stole 4 of them. I sent them back and Gary replaced the 96 springs and included 4 new traps for the ones that were stolen. He also included 50.00 for my shipping costs and a lengthy letter about remembering me. At the end he asked if I would write my experiences with them (like a field tester) that he could publish. I respectfully sent him back one declining with the explanation that this was going to revolutionize the coon harvesting techniques of the future and I was selfish in keeping it to myself for awhile. Still am with tricks and tips I gathered ,,,,,, so you can think what you want of me. The traps worked flawlessly and were easy to place, set, bait, and remove any quarry/catch, which you all now know. So for about 8 years I used a tool locally that gave me a tremendous advantage over any competition for fur and ADC trapping. About 2010 the "cat was out of the bag" and every "expert" was touting how he was going to show everyone the new way to catch piles of coons. Give credit where credit is do to Gary Bonnet for the innovative thinking and the mechanical ability to produce a product every bit as good as the first Victor Conibear (IMO). O'Gorman used to really downgrade the copycats and I saw then (2010 to present) why he did. About 2013-14 I was at the SD State convention and made the statement during a fellow's coon demo "That the Grizz and Dp's in general, made everyone in the U.S. a coon trapper". After the thousands of coons I have taken with the Grizz,,,, I can count on 1 hand the pullouts I have had. I have several other brands of DP's now and they all work on the coons I have caught here, but because Gary Bonnet was such a good business person to his customer (me) I favor the Grizz to this day......................................................... the mike

And now. . . Tim is rolling over in his ( metaphoric ) grave.

I have a couple dozen of the original grizz traps. Wow are they strong. Not a bit of treatment and they work as good as new. Never a pullout. Sometimes they over power a possum…

I started buying the cast aluminum pcs featherlight traps. They are about as strong and I love them too. Not as many years on them, but I did have a pullout. I usually stake or cable to a big drag or tree. I don’t have pullout issues.

Both are pull triggers only. I think that is key for eliminating unwanted catches (except possums) and pullouts.