Author Topic: QUESTION OF THE DAY---6/30---DIPPERS DELIGHT (Read 913 times)

Bogmaster · « **on:** June 29, 2004, 03:02:21 PM »

I have been dipping my traps in Blackies Steel coat,since it came out.
Dipping is always subject to a lot of arguements.I have found ,that a lot of the most vocal opponents to cold dips--have never even tried them.
Also a lot of the guys who have had problems,refused to use coleman fuel and tried to get by the cheaper way,using gasoline.
I always use coleman fuel,when dipping.Using coleman,produces a quick and complete dry out--not so with gasoline.
Todays question--how many dippers do we have on here??Also how do the rest of you treat your traps?

?
Tom

17HMR · « **Reply #1 on:** June 30, 2004, 01:43:27 AM »

I have never Used dip of any kind I paint all my conis. and dye and wax foot holds , and boil my snares in baking soda I also dye about a third of my snares lightly. On 220 conis and stands I use 3 colors to help camo them for trail sets, I think it makes a big improvement in the amount of fur I take. Jeff

Mallard · « **Reply #2 on:** June 30, 2004, 02:43:02 AM »

I dye all of my water traps with walnut hulls, and wax them. Its kind of a summer event where a few of my buddies come over, tip a couple cold ones, and everyone gets their work done in assembly line fashion. ½ of a 55 gallon drum for the dye and 15 gallons of wax in an old turkey pot. I guess cold dip would be fine, but for me it takes away from part of the enjoyment.

As far as canine traps go its a completely different ballgame, and Im a subscriber to the scent free game. The traps are dyed in walnut hulls, then clean boiled to remove residue, then dipped in clean scent free wax (different wax pot than the water traps), then hung to air out, then stored in the scent free shed until season.

I have bought 3 batches of used traps from different folks that were speed dipped. Each time I took 1 trap and put it in a zip-lock bag for a couple hrs and then opened the bag and took a sniff. In each case I detected gas scent and figure if I can smell it, so can the canines..big time. While some dont consider this a problem, I simply dont want it.

I can honestly say I will never use a petroleum based dip on any canine trap.ever.

yottey · « **Reply #3 on:** June 30, 2004, 03:39:24 AM »

I have been dipping my water traps and conibears for years.I have caught more than a few K-9s in sets made for coon in drysets with dipped traps!When trapping in the creeks and rivers I set what ever trap I have handy for K-9s its easyer than going back to truck to pick up a waxed trap and makes more sense than not setting till next day!Still when I'm running a line for K-9s I use waxed traps.I have had some refusals with dipped traps but belive that in some cases the trap might not be the whole problem!I noticed it more with dipped traps done in late summer than ones done in the spring! I also have traps hangging out to air from the time their dipped till used! I mix my dip 4 to 1 ratio with colmen gas and don't seem to have any problems ;yet I still prefur to wax my K-9 traps !I delive a lot of differance in climates will make what works for you , not work for others!yottey

Appleknocker · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2004, 03:45:10 AM »

I dip all my water traps. My first choice is Arrons but I am about out. Sure wish they would produce it again. My second cold dip choice is Blackie's Blend. Canine traps I dye with log wood and then dip in pure straight wax. I am still testing Formula One on my canine traps, so far no problem. My snares are boiled in baking soda. I am also testing Formula One on my snares. I really like the way it makes them look and so far have not had a problem. After treating all canine traps and snares I seal them in plastic pails that I have deodorized with baking soda. I also ad pine or cedar shavings in these buckets. I forgot to mention that in my wax I put cedar oil.

trappenjoe · « **Reply #5 on:** June 30, 2004, 06:39:44 AM »

I dip everything , it works awsume , less time than waxing . :wink: Just remember to scrape the dog and knotch . I used gas and I've used coleman and can't find a big difference , Now the coleman evaporated faster .But I ussally dip in the heat of summer , to give plenty of time to absorb . I can see where in wetter places this might not work. But the dip
worked every time with a fast action, and didn't rust with the antifreeze.
(salt ). Little Joe

yottey · « **Reply #6 on:** June 30, 2004, 06:42:20 AM »

Appleknocker try KBL dip mix it like Aarons It is new on the market! Mix same as aarons you'll be sure to like it!yottey

Trapper Ryan · « **Reply #7 on:** June 30, 2004, 08:45:13 AM »

I am goona use both this year, im still experimenting. I'm gonna dip my conis and my dog proofs and maybe a few water traps. I'm gonna dye and wax my canine traps, and I boil my snares in baking soda, will probably dye them this year.

cotton1 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 30, 2004, 01:04:04 PM »

doing the dip here on all traps for the last few years
use COLEMAN fuel hang em in a warm dry spot 3 days later my wife can't smell the dip so i know no critter can

Dave Lyons · « **Reply #9 on:** June 30, 2004, 04:59:37 PM »

Boggy,

I just have to throw a little fun in here a second. EVERYONE needs to know Mallard has a BARN just for his Canine traps. It is called the scent free BARN.

Anyway back to the topic at hand. I dip Conibears only. I boil and wax all the rest. But on NEW traps I just wash in the dish washer and wax.

Dave

Mallard · « **Reply #10 on:** July 01, 2004, 01:17:17 AM »

It's a SHED Dave........just a shed. LOL Maple glow in the spring, and canine traps in the summer.....

jim-NE · « **Reply #11 on:** July 02, 2004, 02:38:15 AM »

I've use both methods for water and land traps alike. I will actually go back to dipping this year but is more due to lack of decent area to fire up my old charcoal grill and boiler for logwood dye method.
I had decent luck with dips a few years back, and it was very convenient, too. I kept the dip covered after each session, and it was easy to redip traps as needed on the fly. I use coleman fuel also with my dips. I've tried Blackie's dip, Aaron's Speed Dip, and a couple of others. I don't really have a preference to any particular brand. My biggest complaint is that I need a container large enough to cover a #330, whether it lies flat in the container or it stands upright.
On other hand, there is the pure enjoyment of a kettle full of traps simmering away over a hot fire or bed of coals, too.
I prefer to dip my traps in summer and let 'em air out for several weeks/months prior to season opener. When boiling, I do that in early to mid-fall period and give them a shorter drying/airing out time. Even logwood dyes have a unique odor, I believe. I like walnut hulls when I can acquire a supply of them. We have enough native walnuts around here that the scent is very natural.
I pack all my predator traps in clean wooden boxes stuffed with pieces of fresh cedar branches around the traps in each box.
I'm not a wax fan. I like the added speed and water prevention it offers, but I don't like how quickly it pickes up odors and the additional steps to remove it if I need to redip or reboil. We have a high coon population here and I catch a number of coons in my predator sets. Nothing removes a finish off of a trap like a coon, I believe.

gcs · « **Reply #12 on:** July 02, 2004, 05:04:42 AM »

I used the gas dip ,tried F1 ( wasn't crazy about it), now I dip the coon and conibears in my own mix(net dip) cut with mineral spirits. This works as good as the other dip I used before. I found you need a good rust base for the dip to cover the best,think old tow chains, fresh surface rust on new traps don't take the dip very good.

Jacktheknife · « **Reply #13 on:** July 02, 2004, 05:17:44 AM »

Howdy Ya'll, I have the same feelings about speed dip as old Mallard does, and dye mine in a 30 gallon barrel, 10 gallons of walnut hulls, red trap dye powder with a few cedar branches thrown in. And as old Boggy says: I have never used speed dip. Just set in my ways I guess. I bought some traps one of which was probably dipped in speed dip, and it did not match the others. It looked as if it had been painted with Krylon spray paint, except Krylon flat, would have looked better. The dipped trap was shiny! And just did not look right, like it had been laying out in the woods for years. It looked strange, shiny painted and new.
Did not look right out in the shed on the wall either, a shiny solid black trap amid all the others, which were dull black, mottled and matched each other. When I buy new {used} traps, I look to see if they have been dipped in that stuff, I can tell because they are too!!! black.
Just don't seem right, and yes, I am set in my ways.

trappenjoe · « **Reply #14 on:** July 02, 2004, 07:27:48 AM »

They seem to look the same to me ( when buried or have a catch in them)
Sorry bog had to.. Little Joe

brushbustertex · « **Reply #15 on:** July 02, 2004, 10:54:02 AM »

never dip . when you make a set animals can tell how long it's been ago you set the trap.your scent is all over there.you can trap them if they are starving or they are quirious.an raw rotting cow horn with blind sets on the trails 15 to20 away will get a coyote.set in groups of 3 and hope for a frount leg. no stakes just a drag.

i"m of the oppion that animals can see with thier nose. its just another sense. :twisted:

Trapper RayA · « **Reply #16 on:** July 03, 2004, 09:20:42 AM »

Hi Ya'll Iam one them dippers ya was askin abut Good post tomm
ive been usein blackies dip for 10 yrs now or there bouts and wont use anything else till everybody runs out of it and none can be found.i mix mine with coleman fuel and yaa once in a while i'll get it a bit thinner than i like when that happens i go out take the lid off the bucket for 2-3 hr's stir it up and dip a diff trap 9-10 times it will be just right. Usually i like to let them hang out and air for a month before season. I have used some that had been hangin a cople weeks and they worked as well as any i had boiled.just seams less time consumeing and does a great job. one thing on conibears be sure to wipe out the dog's or sore fingers will come more frequently. i paint conibear when thay need a touch up or iam in a hurry. paint does a good job on them too. RayA

Macthediver · « **Reply #17 on:** July 04, 2004, 04:56:49 AM »

I have been playing with this dip thing myself for a little while here. Tom and a couple others know what I have been up to. Anyway for over 20 years I have always been a dye and wax guy. Guess it was because I learned that way, now it's a habit and I also enjoy the smell of traps cooking in log wood.
But always curious and always trying things I did start dipping some traps couple years back. I have not yet dipped a k-9 trap using gasoline to thin the dip. Everyone I talked to that had success with dip used coleman fuel. So coleman fuel was my choice to thin my mix.
Being a firefighter I had access to an unusual method of testing my dipped traps for residue of gas odor. I won't reveal the method I used to test my traps, because it is on going, but here is what I can tell you.
A trap that has been dipped in dip thinned with coleman fuel and air dried for 2 weeks to the day. This trap will not smell like gasoline. I'am not saying that the trap don't smell like dip or that it don't smell like coleman fuel. Dyed & waxed traps most likely smell like dye & wax traps. But what I was looking for was gasoline odor.
So what I could almost swear in a court of law is, it has no odor of gasoline.
I have a new can of dip here and will be mixing it up with regular unlead gasoline in a few days. Once I dip some traps they will be aired for two weeks and tested. Two weeks seemed to be what most guys figured, when I ask around.
When I started playing with this dip testing I had a magazine article in mind. After no gas odor was found using coleman fuel I kind of lost my direction. I was hoping and figured the colemen fuel would fail / smell of gasoline.
Like I said all I can tell you at this point is colemen fuel does not smell like regular unleaded gas.
Also my first coyote of the 2003 season was caught in a #2 Bridger that was dipped for the first testing I did.

Hopefully at some point I will have more in-depth info on this. So far all I have is more questions than answers.

Mac

" Never forget Which Way Is Up"