underspring traps

[tim powell]

I need some info on some traps that I recently come by. A friend of mine gave me some traps that he called undersprings. He said they were his grandpa's and that they don't make them anymore. They are in decent shape and I was wondering if they have any collectors value. Any info at all would be appreciated.

 

[River Runner]

Their street name is "jump traps", and instead of having coils on the sides to slam the jaws shut, most had a flat type spring underneath that flexed up and down a lot like an automotive leaf spring. You push them down to set them.
They called them jump traps because they jumped upward when they were triggered.

As far as collector value....well maybe if you found the right person, but otherwise not really.
Collectors are going to look for special printing on the pans, the size of the trap and who made it.
Victor was big into jump traps when they were a hot item. I have no idea if they are still being made, but I do know people still use em.

 

[tim powell]

Thanks Yellowhammer. I've never seen one before and thought they might be worth something. I had heard of "jump traps" but never really knew what they were. I appreciate the help.

 

[tim powell]

Sorry River Runner, I typed yellowhammer for some reason. They say the mind is the first thing to go. Anyway, thanks.

 

[wyote]

Blake and Lamb made a underspring trap. They were square jawed and had the same spring system as a jump trap but they were double springed instead of one spring like the jump.

They aren't much of a trap because the levers were so low. Might have some trap colleting value but not much.

Some folks call a coil spring trap an underspring trap by mistake

 

[Rich Cronk]

I have never used a jump trap, but I knew a trapper who did. The ones he was using were #2 jumps I think. They set nice and flat, he didn't even bed em. All I saw him do was find a pile of chaff in freshly combined soybean field, kick up a U shaped backing of chaff, set a jump trap at opening of the U, kick a little chaff over the trap, pour some bloody looking lure on the backing and he was done. He caught coyotes too. I figured that if I was gonna do that, I would use #3 jumps instead of #2's.