Someone's Always Got to Ruin it for me

Anyone ever have this issue? I'm upgrading and expanding my current supply of traps. I look at all the options available, quality, price, etc. My final test is the reviews. I read and everyone gives outstanding reviews except for the one guy who writes about the worst trap ever made. I think to myself, "there has to be something to this". I then have enough doubt to cause me to not be interested in that trap brand anymore. I know that there is no such thing as "the perfect trap", but I am looking for something that has good reviews or even decent reviews so that I don't question my preliminary choice and start the looking process all over again.

Not everybody agrees with everybodys opinion

believe your eyes and not your ears.i usually could care less what someone else thinks.

Pick a brand that YOU think is best and go with it. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the stuff made today.

That one guy may not have much experience OR he is a "know it all" and the trap is a little different than he is used to so he had a mishap.

Go with Olympic judging when looking at reviews. Throw out the highest and the lowest. I also disregard any out of the box reviews. I want honest opinions from folks who actually used the products.

I use reviews when deciding on some purchases. There's always going to be a few disgruntled crackpots that give a good product a terrible review for no good reason. Likewise there's always going to be those who give glowing reviews to a product right out of the box simply because they spent their money on it.

After reading many reviews, these folks are not hard to spot.

The quoted advice is spot on.

My final test is to order one each of the candidate traps and compare them in hand. Play with 'em for several days before making the decision to buy dozens of 'em.

When considering a product I like to look at the Amazon reviews. They show positive and negative and I look for repetitive complaints on the same issue, not just one disgruntled buyer. Some reviews I ignore totally. For example, when looking at hiking boots that will be reliable for backcountry backpacking and a guy says "I just got these yesterday and the leather smells great. They don't have a scratch on them and the rubber is shiny. I haven't put them on yet but I'm sure I'm going to love them." That gets tossed as does the review by a construction worker that uses them for work. Just not applicable. On the other hand, when several folks say the top hooks broke in the first month of use, the boot gets the boot.

I’ve seen traps rated at one star and called “ terrible” because the traps were too hard to set by hand lol.

I too look for repeated complaints about the same thing.

One word of caution.......Amazon is now using bots to write reviews when they don't have enough from real people. They say it increases sales . Are we surprised ?

I have bought and sold sooooooo many traps, I tried this or that and found good and bad in most of them worked my way up to MJs for yotes best trap going IMO for my needs and soil and for risky areas I use 1.75 Sleepy Creek O/S.

Been running that set up for many years now. Unless your a trust fund kid starting out with MJs would be tough so if a guy buys and sells right as the goes you can work your way to better and better over time. I'd keep an eye on what selling quickly in the Shed and buy quality traps as cheap just gets cheaper.


Always going to be guys that will tell you your wrong and then repeat back to you what you just said in another way like it was their idea. LOL It's like putting together a tool box take what you like from different people and make your own one.

I look at the detail put into a review , if they outlined an issue in great detail then I give it merit. if they just popped in and hated on something with no detail , then they are usually just a hater.

you have to remember there is a % of the population that can just never be happy and they delight in making others as unhappy as they are.

Agree and use them for a season as well.

Don't look at trap reviews...look at the traps you're interested in in person.Trap Reviews are like asking which truck is the best on a 4x4 forum. Hahaha!

put one in my hand for 10 min and i'll tell all i need to know,til a week later when my needs change.

Great advice here. I have done this a few times when pondering a trap I am unfamiliar with.

Well I read some reviews on the new Duke #2's. But I needed to see for myself. So last year I bought 2 of them. Let's put it this way, my Bday was last Saturday and guess what I got from my wife 6 more. That's what I asked for. The dogs get bent but after season I'll change them. By the way these are the 4 coil offset. Love them.

Can't go wrong with 100 year old Newhouse! But if you could afford those you could retire somewhere pleasant and never work again!

Unless a product has nothing but negative reviews I personally would put little faith in them.

Everyone knows Ford's are the best. Can't believe that's even a debate. Lol

All traps are decent and it comes down to how much money you have to quantity needed.

I like belisle body grips and mostly use sleepy creek foot holds. But own a bunch of dukes 330s as well.

I have a bunch of bmi smaller body grips. I also have some larger sauvageau.

My point is don't get stuck on one brand as it really don't matter to the animal what name is on the pan. Lol

Talk to some accomplished trappers operating in your area and ask them what they have and why they choose what they use and if they recommend that trap for what you want to do.

There are no all-purpose traps. Its not just what animal. How and where used are a factors too, and that can lead to mixed reviews.

Thank you all for your advise. I like the Olympic scoring analogy-makes the most sense to me. I also realize that I need to use what is best for me in my situation and needs-and that you should always buy the best that you can afford at the time. I would love to test out stuff, but I HATE paying for shipping multiple times. Thanks again all.

If in doubt, go with percentages, not all of them will lie, but that one person could be

Ok lawdog, that picture is gross! Lol

Your missing out if you narrow yourself down to just one brand or type of trap. And you may like them in the hand but change your mind after a year or two using them. Same thing goes with trap anchoring. You've got to try different ones out. Iv'e trapped three major areas, the Northeast the Ozarks, and the southwest. Each area finds me changing my trap preference. Deep snow and Ice require a different trap than dry sand or red clay. Also the available fur may be different. #30 lb coyotes vs #60 lb coyotes etc. Public land or private land. All these must be taken into account and then just plane experience using the different models and makes so that YOU know what setup works best in your area. Course if you move you will have to start that process all over again, but you'll be that much farther ahead if you have a few different ones to try out in your new area.

That's dang near impossible down here, lol. I'm excited to be going to a National next year just to hold in my hands all the traps that have came out in the past 5 years, LOL.

Haters gonna hate