# How to keep rust off body traps?



## Lamarsh (Aug 19, 2014)

Martin Looker said:


> What ever happened to waxing traps? That used to be a fall ritual stain then wax traps.





bradym54 said:


> I wax everything from footholds to conibears. I have never had a problem with waxed conibears not staying set. It does make them easier to set off, which is a good thing in my eyes especially when setting for mink or marten.


What kind of wax? Thanks


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Seldom said:


> A little??? Oh sweet lord, a 220, that’d hurt ya!! That professor and his waxed 110’s had me stand on my tip-toes a couple of times before I threw those batards back in the boat and called it a day so I could go home and round-up mine!!! He told me that was how the supposed mink trappers down by GR did their 110’s and told him they didn’t know how to tune a frigin 110 to trap a mink. And you know what, it took that bunch of supposed mink trappers 6 frigin years to catch 6 mink!!!! I figured it was because they couldn’t keep their traps set or their fingers out of’em by golly!!!


Yep his thumbnail turned black and fell off eventually. 

On that trip he also set a 160 and caught a stinkin red squirrel. Cool part was we had set a trail cam to see what was coming by and got pic of live squirrel, dead squirrel and then a red tail hawk eating it.


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## Tryin2 (Oct 4, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> Watched my buddy get a 220 on his thumb nail. Looked like it hurt a little lol


I have been that guy a time or 2 but only once with a 220 thankfully......i was checking my line in the dark after working 16 hours(got stuck working an extra 4 hours unexpectedly) I was in a hurry to get home was resetting my last trap and snap that damn 220 closed on my hand .......best part was I couldn't get my hand out of the trap so me and said trap drove home together ...........the look on my wifes face when I walked in with my hand stuck in a trap and said I need a lil help here was priceless ....after a few minutes of her poking fun of the situation my hand was free .


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Tryin2 said:


> I have been that guy a time or 2 but only once with a 220 thankfully......i was checking my line in the dark after working 16 hours(got stuck working an extra 4 hours unexpectedly) I was in a hurry to get home was resetting my last trap and snap that damn 220 closed on my hand .......best part was I couldn't get my hand out of the trap so me and said trap drove home together ...........the look on my wifes face when I walked in with my hand stuck in a trap and said I need a lil help here was priceless ....after a few minutes of her poking fun of the situation my hand was free .


Carry a length of rope. 6 ft should do. Allows you to remove it yourself.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Ow ow ow. That's not fun.


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## Tryin2 (Oct 4, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> Carry a length of rope. 6 ft should do. Allows you to remove it yourself.


I always carry some rope with me on the line but because I was running late getting home from work I opted to skip stopping home n grabbing my pack with my gear and chose to just run the line as quick as I could ...........yet another lesson I learned the hard way lol .....dont think I have ever rushed myself on the line or not had my rope since then


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Tryin2 said:


> I always carry some rope with me on the line but because I was running late getting home from work I opted to skip stopping home n grabbing my pack with my gear and chose to just run the line as quick as I could ...........yet another lesson I learned the hard way lol .....dont think I have ever rushed myself on the line or not had my rope since then


Ya. It'll learn ya quick


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## Sportingman1954 (Jan 31, 2015)

In the Ancient times my father
and I would get 10 lbs of wax.
waxed them in a wash tub or
a 55 gal drum , we always boiled
them , we would put in large apple tree or yellow birch tree
chips about 5 lbs. We did this
every-other yr. close to 300 traps.
This was a tradition until he died
at 88,I gave up trapping in 2004
This is a lot of work but we had
lots of fun. I love them memories.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

If you don't want wax on the trigger a little bit of boiling water on that area will get rid of the wax.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

FMann said:


> After cleaning the grease off my coni’s I spray paint them. What I do is stack them 6 high I spray from one direction with black, another direction with brown and repeat until I’ve covered the four sides. This gives the traps a slight camouflage look. I’m not saying it’s right I’m just saying it’s what I do! Who knows it could be a complete waste of time?


Great ideas!! till some basxxxx stea;l em.


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## piscatorial warrior (Sep 14, 2011)

We used to let them rust slightly then Speed-Dip 'em. Just make sure you clean out the notches in the Dog with a round file before you use them, and I mean all 3 notches! Don't get lazy and just do one, or some dark morning when you're knee-deep in a creek you'll get a surprise! :yikes:


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

New traps I de-grease and dip in speed dip. I don’t rust them. They will get some rust once you make a few catches with them anyway. Whatever you coat them with will wear off from use but then I just re-dip as necessary. The ones I use the most might get treated every year and some last a couple years. 
I carry a pocket knife and scrape the triggers as necessary if they won’t stay set. My BE traps have a fairly forgiving trigger set so they don’t go off every time they pick up a leaf or debris.


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## BassFisher91 (Sep 11, 2005)

Haven’t dyed my conibears yet, maybe I will in the summer. What I’ve been doing is carrying steel wool in my pocket, and before I set a trap I give it a quick wipe with the steel wool and it takes the rust right off. Maybe it adds 1 minute to my set making...


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## GSPHunter (Apr 1, 2003)

Full Metal Jacket dip...completely seals metal stops the rusting process. U can spray paint before or after dipping. One or the other wont stick as well in my experience. Stuff lasts a long time!


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

GSPHunter said:


> Full Metal Jacket dip...completely seals metal stops the rusting process. U can spray paint before or after dipping. One or the other wont stick as well in my experience. Stuff lasts a long time!


One scratch and it'll start rusting below the surface of the paint (it is a paint) and start peeling up.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

FREEPOP said:


> One scratch and it'll start rusting below the surface of the paint (it is a paint) and start peeling up.


Yeah I've got a dozen rusty FMJ dipped traps I've gotta clean somehow.


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## Tail-Chaser (Feb 7, 2014)

sureshot006 said:


> Yeah I've got a dozen rusty FMJ dipped traps I've gotta clean somehow.


I screwed up and used fmj on a few traps. I cleaned them up by soaking in a bucket of automotive parts cleaner. Then I power washed them. The cleaner ate down far enough to loosen the coating and the power washer melted it off. But I have a heavy duty washer with a diesel burner.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

I've never tried it , but read of putting traps in black muck to season them.
Found a place near the river with a deep run of it and meant to test a trap buried in it with periodic checks , but failed to do so before leaving the area.
My guess is tannin acid is involved.
Maybe a crude reaction more along the line of bluing/controlled rust.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Waif said:


> I've never tried it , but read of putting traps in black muck to season them.
> Found a place near the river with a deep run of it and meant to test a trap buried in it with periodic checks , but failed to do so before leaving the area.
> My guess is tannin acid is involved.
> Maybe a crude reaction more along the line of bluing/controlled rust.


I have a spot at the new house that does just that. Found it by putting stabilizers in there.
I always intend to take a couple dozen down there but haven't yet.
Maybe this spring?


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## GSPHunter (Apr 1, 2003)

Have many traps dipped in FMJ both conibears and footholds...no issues what so ever. Stuff wears like no other. If ur having issues with it not bonding your prep wasn't good enough and traps were dirty. Don't fault the product for user error.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

GSPHunter said:


> Have many traps dipped in FMJ both conibears and footholds...no issues what so ever. Stuff wears like no other. If ur having issues with it not bonding your prep wasn't good enough and traps were dirty. Don't fault the product for user error.


Bonding was no problem until it got a scratch and then the rust started.


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## Fool'em (Sep 29, 2016)

I use FMJ on my canine traps. I just pressure wash them after the season then let them dry out well and re-dip them. FMJ scratches off but so does wax and then the trap gets a little rust. I just dip again and go. 
Seems to work for me

I like speed dip for water traps though. Same thing if you catch a **** in the gravel they will shine up a trap real quick.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

It has seemed to me for a long time that by placing duct tape on the coni dog and bar that it hooks to, then waxing would 
just about eliminate not being able to set conis. Anyone do it that way?


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