How to Make a Spring Loaded Deadfall Trap Using Your Paracord Gear

Throughout this Instructable I will demonstrate how to make a spring loaded deadfall trap using your paracord gear. When in a survival situation, you can unravel your paracord gear and create a spring loaded deadfall trap to catch small game for a meal.

Step 1: What You'll Need

What you'll need:

• (4) foot long sticks roughly 1 inch in diameter (1 not shown in picture)
• (1) 6 inch long stick roughly 1 inch in diameter
• (1) 5 foot long sapling/tree (must be alive, and flexable)
• A rock to use as a hammer
• A large rock to use for deadfall weight (Ideally 2' x 2' x 5")
• Paracord bracelet or other gear
• Knife/sharp object for cutting cord

Step 2: Prep Work

Before you do anything, find a good place to set it up.

• Look for burrows or nests.
• Locate game trails.
• Find rivers and streams.

Sharpening.
   Start off by sharpening the ends of 3 of the foot long sticks. These three will be hammered into the ground. Sharpening the ends will make it much easier to hammer them into the ground. If you don't have a survival knife, use a sharp rock, broken bottle, or anything you can find. If you snap the stick the rigtht way you can get a pretty good point.

Step 3: Preparing Your Cord

Start by deploying your gear. Learn how to deploy your gear.

• To get the most use out of your paracord you're going to only use the sheath to make this trap.
• Cut/snip both ends of your paracord to loosen the guts of your cord.
• Pull out the guts and set aside for later use. Do not misplace the inner strands.

Step 4: Building the Foundation of the Spring.

• Take two of your foot long sticks and hammer them into the ground using a rock.
• Make sure they are roughly 2 feet apart.

Step 5: Making the Trigger.

• Cut a 6 inch piece of the cord for this step.
• See the diagram below to understand the positioning of the trigger.

1. Using a rock hammer in another foot long stick in the proper location.
2. Tie your 6 inch stick like shown in part 2 of the diagram

See the second diagram to undertand positioning of the trigger.

Step 6: Loading the Spring.

• Cut a 2 feet piece of cord to use in thie step.
• See the "top view" of the trap in a diagram below. This will help with positioning on the trigger, and spring stick.
• Also view the video below on how to cock the spring stick.
• Weave the spring stick in between the two sticks you set in the ground in step 3.

1. Tie the cord to the end of the spring stick. Use the top view diagram below to get a better understanding of positioning.
2. Pull the spring stick towards the trigger and tie the cord to the 6 inch stick on the trigger. Make sure you have a good bend in the spring stick so when the trap is triggered it deploys as fast as possible.

See the second image to view the top view of a loaded trap. Use this to help you understand the positioning the spring stick, and the trigger. Also check out the video to see the spring stick being cocked.

Step 7: Setting Up the Deadfall Rock.

• Find a heavy rock that has some size to it. Ideally a wide, long, and thin rock about 2' x 2' x 4". But again whatever you can find will work, even if it has to be a heavy log.

1. Take the last 1 foot stick and lean it up against the deadfall weight over the trigger.
2. Sometimes the trap has a hard time deploying if the stick digs into the ground. If the ground youe working with is soft and forgiving, use a small rock. Place the rock under stick which holds the deadfall weight up. This will insure the stick is pulled out quick, and easily by the spring stick.

Step 8: Tying the Spring Stick to the Deadfall Weight Holding Stick.

• Cut a 2 foot piece of cord to use for this step.
• Being careful not to trigger the trap, tie the cord from the end of the spring stick to the bottom of the deadfall weight holding stick.
• Notice it's not a tightly tied cord. You want to leave it loose like shown below. Leaving the cord loose like this will create a "snapping" effect which will aid in the deployment of your trap.

Step 9: Place Your Bate on Top of the Trigger and You're Good to Go.