Was watching some trapping u tube vids, one was of drowners an rigs, he used a l shape drown lock an didn't use the swiveled end with hole in it, how many of you, use the factory swiveled end with hole in it, that comes on end of trap chain,for cable or wire as a drown lock

I use crunch proof swivels on my cable drowners.

What are crunch proof swivels ? Why are they called that? I heard them before

… that’s mtp swivels …. They are heavy duty

Dave, I copied this information from the MTP website for you.

"The heaviest and smoothest operating swivel ever offered to the trapper. Originally designed for our custom MB-650 Coyote and Bobcat traps; however as more and more of our customers saw the swivel and wanted them on their own traps, we decided to sell them separately. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between this swivel and all the others! The body on this swivel is .105" thick. Coyotes and large dogs can’t close the Crunch Proof’s swivel body down on the J-hooks causing the swivel to freeze-up like others do. Recommended for any animal trapped in North America. Strong enough for the toughest wolf, wolverine, bear, or mountain lion if the #6 J-hooks are welded."

other than some premade ones i bought a long time ago I almost always use the universal swivel.

thanks for the reply, not really needed for coon though

I just use the hole in the swivel like you mentioned Dave. No need for all the other junk IMO, it just adds unneeded cost.

I use 1/8" camlocs on 1/8" 7x19 cable. 20' long, adjustable length. I can`t even begin to express how I wish I had been using these when I was trapping `coon. It might seem like overkill for `coon, but when you start mixing in Beaver and Otter, you`ll be really glad you had the heavy hardware.

When I first used downers ,the swivels on the end of trap chains were still very new.
I used the " L" locks , as that was being used at the time.
Never changed that method , as if it works , don't mess with it.
I can see how it works though.

How many of use nitelatch coon traps or 1.5 coil in duke?

I used to use trap swivels all the time and #11 wire…I’ve since went to an “L” shaped drowning lock and cable, and a cable stake loop with an 1/8” camloc at the end to pull excess drowning cable through to tighten up the slack.

However what animals are you using the set up on

IMO 1.5 Duke coils are the best coon trap out there. Cheap and very efficient. I don't night latch though....I short latch.....

I have never used anything other than the hole in the swivel at the end of the chain. Typically on wire but cable some mostly on beaver

The vid I was watching say for traps smaller than a no.2, to take off pan an put in vice flat, use a file with 5/32 thickness to file a nite latch, file it halfway into pan notch

Never took the pan off to do a night latch.

They say for a beginner that u should take off pan an put flat into vice

I have more control of my file if I take the pan off. Only takes a minute or less. Have done it both ways

Forget the night latch, Dave, Completely unnecessary on a coon trap.