# Good trapping pack?



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

What's a good trapping pack that doesn't cost too much?

I'm planning my bobcat line and most of the areas I'll be trapping are a mile or more off the road so I need to come up with a reasonably priced pack. My plan is to make my own ash basket but that's not going to happen this season.

It also has to be able to be cleaned because I will also be setting some fox traps.

What about an ALICE pack with some kind of bucket or plastic garbage can inside?


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## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

Good luck to you, fishead. Be sure to post pictures of your pack after you make one. Pictures of your fur harvest would be nice too.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I know a guy who does a lot of walk in beaver removal work , he has a modern style back pack frame with the good padded waist belt , padded straps , like what you would take on a multi day back packing trip , except he has a wood pack basket mounted to the frame , why wood , because it is lighter than the poly basket 

they tell me keeping a good coat of polyurethane on a wood pack basket is what makes it last , that ans a piece of wood cut to fit the bottom to take up the abuse the bottom of a basket of tools will endure 


I went the cheap route for right now as i don't have to walk in very far maybe a few hundred yards , i had a back pack that had decent padded straps and back , i found a plastic garbage can that fit in it nice , i took some schedule 20 pvc cause it is thinner and lighter and i had it given to me and put 5 pieces across the inside of the back of the garbage can , marked and drilled holes in the can for the zip ties then strapped the pipe in , I can put 6 stakes in each of the outside corner pipes , then my hammer , shovel, and pliers in the other pipes , then 6 taps in the bottom and bait in a ziplock bags in the outer pocket , it doesn't weigh to much like that but it wouldn't be good for much more weight. I won't be able to put much for a catch in it . but it is light weight once all the traps and stakes are out and i have everything with i need to check and do some resets.

but a basket is on my list , and a frame to mount it to


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Here's a birch bark basket I made a couple of springs ago. It's okay for a first attempt. Next time I'll use narrower strips and peel them a bit thinner. Birch makes durable basket but it's hard to find birch large enough and without lichens that go all the way through the bark. I think the inner bark would make a good water trough.

I would definitely give the ash basket a couple good coats of poly. I've got a black ash log soaking in the lake right now. I will bring it up to the house and get it ready for stripping. Once you get the strips it doesn't take long to make the basket.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I looked at ALICE packs today. The large looks like it would hold a 5 gallon bucket. I'm going to see if I can find just the frame.

I just checked eBay and with shipping an empty frame is about $5 less than I can buy a frame AND the pack at Fleet Farm ($40) so I guess that is the route I'll take.

I'm going to go with a bucket within a bucket in the pack. That way I can set the pack down a ways from the set location and walk to it with a clean bucket. Not necessary for cats and fisher but very important for fox. I'm looking forward to catching some gray fox. They are new to our area.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

can you explain how you strip the log ? are you splitting it with the grain with a fro?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

No. You beat the annual rings apart with a hammer or the back of an axe. Then as they separate you cut them into strips.

That reminds me that I need to haul the log up from the lake.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

how big in diameter of a log do you use ?

how long do you cut the log ?

how long do you leave it soak?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I think you can use anything from maybe 4" and up. 

The length has to be long enough to make maximum length strips. For a normal sized pack basket I think that's the vertical ones. I figured a 20" tall basket would take about 56" (two 20" sides+ 16" bottom). You want to minimize the number of joints needed.

The soaking is just to keep the log from drying out.


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## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

Okay guys ready for a laugh? Many years ago when I was a young buck with a new son, laid off and short of money, trapping was the only way I could think of to earn a few bucks.

I had not trapped for years but I still had my traps, boots and other gear. What I didn't have was a basket and no money to buy one and no material on hand to split strips out of. 

So I started to scrounge, found a few bits and pieces of lumber, but nothing to make strips of until I found..................are you ready for this, some old venetian blinds.

I used a piece of plywood for the bottom nailed the cut to size slats to it. I fashioned the rest of the frame from 2x2 strips of wood. Wove the strips and nailed them to the 2x2s and pop riveted the strips where they overlapped, 2 old belts wrapped with some burlap sacking completed it.

Crude as it was it was surprisingly sturdy and worked quite well, it lasted as a trap basket and in other capacities for several years, it was still serviceable when I discarded it.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

As long as the strips were flexible and strong I don't see why they wouldn't work.

I've wondered about using those fiberglass strips that are used to hold cardboard boxes together but I don't know where to get them. They should be almost indestructible and lightweight.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Here's a birch bark pack. I guess they are still used in Russia for every day living.

http://nordic-aputsiaq.blogspot.com/2012/11/father-christmas-and-his-birch-bark.html


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## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

65284, nothing in the world wrong with ingenuity. You should have hung on to it. Great conversation piece.


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