Paiute

[Thrud]

Been watching Alone on the SBS on demand.
Some of the participants have been using Paiute to catch mice. Thought I'd give it a go.

Nice and warm, well fed, sitting down but still very time consuming and frustrating.
I have much more respect for those on the show doing this half starved with cold hands in the rain and wind!
The eagle-eyed amongst you will see that I have wrapped the cordage once round the upright; I have read that I should have roughened the upright post instead to allow more friction.

 

[MongooseDownUnder]

Looks like some cheating going on with that trap setup!

 

[Le Loup]

Good one, but personally I still prefer the figure 4 trigger.

Keith.

 

[Askew]

Have you caught any mice yet?

 

[Thrud]

Only did it to see how it worked. I've made a figure 4 trigger before, but just been watching a bloke who has modified a fig 4, which increases the sensitivity of the trigger.
Interestingly very few of the videos I've watched have used a safety rock to protect their hands in the event of triggering too soon. Last thing you want in a survival situation is a stuffed limb (don't mention anything about my knife skills MDU)

 

[Kindliing]

Been watching Alone on the SBS on demand.
Some of the participants have been using Paiute to catch mice. Thought I'd give it a go.

Nice and warm, well fed, sitting down but still very time consuming and frustrating.
I have much more respect for those on the show doing this half starved with cold hands in the rain and wind!
The eagle-eyed amongst you will see that I have wrapped the cordage once round the upright; I have read that I should have roughened the upright post instead to allow more friction.
View attachment 27983

Can be really effective for that, Also there’s an episode of naked and afraid where a guy ate rats he caught in a cave shelter using deadfall the whole time and never went hungry or hardly lost weight.

 

[Aussie123]

I've only ever made these traps as skill tests, never to trap, but:

In my limited experience the Fig 4 is a more complex to tune and definitely requires more effort to carve.
To make the Paiute you need good cordage, but there is less carving and (IMO) its easier to balance.

Using a safety rock is a great idea when playing with these. Thanks Thrud

 

[Le Loup]

I have always considered the figure four trigger easy to make & easy to use.

Keith.