Trap Boiler

My second oldest son will run his own line this year, between the two of us we've got a mess of traps to get right before the season comes.

I boil traps before dyeing and waxing and having just got his new traps in we needed to boil the oil/grease off. Not a fan of small scale back breaking I decided to build something capable of more capacity as well as versatility, and save my back!

I saw this on YouTube a while back and filed it away for future reference. If I could remember who it was that did the first one I saw I'd post a link.

Pretty simple, you'll need the following.

55gal drum
Steel utility tub the big one...
Something capable of cutting that drum.
1 6" 24ga 90 degree elbow
2 24" 24ga stove pipe
Tin snips, handful of self tapping screws and a drill + driver for the self tappers



Trace the outline of the bottom of the tub on the barrel, if your barrel is like mine. If you have or buy the open top versions you don't have to do this part.



Once you have the outline then get busy. Whatever you use to cut the barrel do it safely. Also, you should remove the plug/bung and be aware of whatever the barrel held before you got it. I used a food grade barrel that had olive oil in it in its former life.






Once done you should be able to set your tub down inside the barrel opening you just made.



Now you'll need to cut a low opening, you'll use this to add wood to the fire and to clean out the ashes. I just did a quick freehand with it but you can get as fancy as you want. I'll end up adding a improvised hinge to the cutout in order to create a door.

Using the elbow trace another hole on the side of the drum and cut it out.

Then use the tin snips to cut the male end of the pipe into tabs as seen below.

Using the self tapping screws and the drill, go through the tabs and into the barrel. Don't have to do them all.

 Finish assembling the stove pipe and put it into the elbow. 

Once I put the tub on and filled it with water I ran a piece of 14ga wire from handle, around the pipe and to the other handle just to add some extra stability.

Fired up and rocking.

Bring on some traps. In this case we'll be doing 7 330s, 6 220s, 36 110s, 6 #3 coils spring, 6 #2 and 6 #1 coil spring.

I typically boil for about 15 minutes, then add water till the oil sheen on top of the water is pushed over the rim of the tub. This is another reason I like this set up, because when done right it is a tight fit between tub and drum and the water/oil isn't hitting the fire. If you don't do this you're bringing the trap back up through the oil that is on top of the water.

I'll let these hang for several days, once they've started gaining a little surface rust I'll fire the boiler back up and dye them, then wax them.

There are some other uses for this boiler, skulls for example, not something you want to boil in the kitchen. This boiler will handle those tasks as well as anytime one needs large amounts of hot water or deal with messy work.

Exotac Matchcap XL vs K&M Matchcase

I've been carrying the Exotax XL for going on two years now. My initial thoughts can be found here, Latest take on an old favorite...

I've been asked a couple times about how it stacks up against the venerable K&M Match Case. I've often wondered the same and had never owned one of the K&Ms until recently. I picked up one of their brass versions, the long type.

It arrived with a couple spare o-rings, an extra cord, and a small brochure on the use and care of the match case. They offer a 'Real Simple' guarantee. Each matchcase to be waterproof to 2000psi, they guarantee total satisfaction, a replacement or a refund, your choice. I believe them on their guarantee, the workmanship is topnotch, much like their reputation.

One of the primary differences between the two types is the fact that the Exotac is threaded with O-ring, and the K&M is not threaded, it is a pressure fit with dual o-rings. Part of this design dates back to original matchcases, most commonly the Marble or Boy Scout versions. The below quote is taken directly from the K&M website;

It seems that anyone who has ever owned either an original Marble's or Boy Scout matchcase (both highly collectable today) or modern copies of either (mostly junk) relates to the difficult to nearly impossible process of opening the case with cold and/or wet fingers or when a piece of sand or grit becomes lodged in the threads.  Because of the thin-ness of the case wall, the shallow knurl (diamond pattern impressed into the case wall) on all older cases serves more for decoration than any practical function.

Many of those old cases found at outdoor and survivalist shows exhibit signs of being clamped and opened with devices ranging from vices and pliers to teeth and we can only guess what else.  (PS - they also leak!)  Based on personal experience with all of the above, the K&M matchcase was designed on purpose to open and close and to seal without threads from the first prototype right up to the present models.  From day one simplicity and reliability have been the name of the game.

The K&M design is to directly deal with the problems of those old matchcases referenced in the quote above. As a result the cap/plug is double o-ringed and relies on a combination of pressure and the cord being tight to keep the cap in place.

The Exotac is a threaded cap and utilized a single o-ring design. I've carried this one specifically for close to two years and have not had to replace the o-ring nor have I had any difficulty in opening the case. I've had trouble with the old Marble and BSA types though so the issue the K&M wanted to design a solution for was real, with the old cases.

The Exotac doesn't suffer this problem for a couple reasons. The threads are open enough not to get jammed up, the diameter and the knurled base give plenty of purchase when twisting the cap off, not that I've had to use much force to accomplish the task.

The other primary difference and one of the handy things about the K&M is the compass built into the cap. It is a quality compass and calibrated true with my K&R Alpin as well as my Cammenga. The orange cap on the case serves to protect the compass.

If you're already carrying a compass it never hurts to have a back up, if you're already carrying a back up, well it's either redundant or a back up to a back up!

As I was comparing the two I tossed them into a mud puddle to test the waterproof claims. 

I left them in the water for twenty minutes and retrieved them. Opened both and fount the contents completely dry in each. I noted the fact that the Exotac floated up on one end with the other resting on the bottom of the puddle. I wanted to get them both in deeper water, both as another waterproof test but also to further explore the floating of the Exotac.

The closest thing to hand that constituted deeper water was my stock tank with two feet of water.

A little difficult to make out the location of the K&M, it went to the bottom quickly. Again the Exotac floated striker end up meaning the threaded cap and 98% of the rest of the case were submerged. 

The matches I am using are the UCO Stormproof, these I have found, are great matches and live up to their hype. Can't blow them out, burn when wet, even under water. 

The K&M would hold 13 maybe 14 while the Exotac held 19 or 20. The K&M doesn't have a strike surface suitable for this type of match so I cut a strike card and placed it faced away from the matches inside the case.

The Exotac does have two strike locations, one coarse and one fine. The coarse is on the bottom and the fine is located on the back wall but protected inside the cap when the cap is on.

Even so I still cut a strike card and keep it inside the case. If you're carrying strike anywhere matches you don't need the strike surfaces of course.

I didn't bother with comparing the two from a weight perspective, obviously the K&M brass unit is heavier than the machined aluminum but I'm not counting ounces, K&M does offer machined aluminum however, if you are counting ounces.

While the two units are different in design their end purpose is to keep matches safe and dry, both units were successful in this.

So the details and features are really what set the two apart. The K&M has the compass, the Exotac floats, the K&M has a non-threaded cap and double o-rings, the Exotac is threaded and uses one 0-ring. 

Ultimately I suppose it comes down to which of those features you find important. For me I'll keep carrying the Exotac as it floats and I consider that a pretty big plus, it has a larger capacity and I already carry multiple compasses and so don't need another. 

The K&M still isn't a bad choice if you want the compass feature and the classic styling. 

The Menagerie...

Some recent trail camera pictures.

Lots of bears, some deer, a bobcat and for the first time in nearly four years I have a moose in a few images. She looks quite healthy but she didn't appear to have a calf with her which is worrisome.

I was very happy to see the following set. She's entering the frame from the left, you can see the ear, eye and nose before she moves into the middle of the frame.

This particular camera is placed about three and a half feet off the ground as a reference. She's a tall one!

This little guy has a strange streak of raised fur down his back. There is another picture later on, the streak is reddish brown while the rest of him is a slick oily looking blue black.

Tough to make out at first, and I had the wrong reaction when it popped up. It took a double take to realize it's a bobcat and not a young cougar. The weird tree happens to be right where the tail would be and at first glance it was confusing. Seeing the bit of black on the ear tips and the black tip on the bob tail gave it away though.

Seen here again but exiting the screen to the right of six o'clock position.