Conibear Traps Compared to Duke Traps

Today I want to talk about trapping supplies especially the Duke Traps and the Conibear traps. What exactly is the difference? Which one is better? Which trap is more affordable? Before we begin let’s clear up one major important issue. Sometimes the Duke are referred to as a Conibear traps. The Duke is NOT a Conibear, the name Conibear is a trademarked name from Oneida Victor while the Duke is a Duke. Both traps are body grip traps meaning that when triggered they collapse onto the animals body resulting in a secure and often quick humane kill. The Conibear traps were originally created by Frank Conibear in the 1950’s. The trap quickly became very popular and eventually became available on the shelves over a decade later. The Duke Trap began its life in the trapping industry in 1986.s

Now I want to start this off by saying we have been using Duke traps since we started trapping. We even use them on some of our ADC jobs and so far we have never has an issue. We love the “conibear” traps as most call them and of course as we said they are not really conibear trap as far as brand name goes. If you have someone who is just starting in trapping then Duke is  great option as ithey are affordable and as far as we are concerned they are dependable. Taking a look below you really cant tell any difference in the two traps.

Duke 110 Body Grip Trap
Duke Traps
conibear 110
Conibear Traps

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Design and Quality

From a appearance standpoint the Duke traps and the Conibear traps by Oneida Victor are pretty much the same design and concept. They look the same and work in the same manner. Some have said that Victors or the Conibear 110 have thinner steel than the Duke 110 however I don’t think personally that this is a major factor. Victor traps are considered to be of higher quality and therefore more expensive. Our personal experience with both traps has been excellent.  While some will argue this point, the catch rates with both of these traps for us at least has been pretty much the same.

Duke & Conibear 110 As Survival Tools

The Duke and Conibear 110 body grip traps are excellent survival tools. They are small so you can toss two or four into a pack easily. These traps are great for squirrel and rabbit but they have even more uses. In a survival situation you can bait these up for game birds like turkey, pheasant or grouse, ducks and geese. Last Year we baited a 110 with a minnow, staked it to the bottom of a pond and in 20 minutes we have a 4 lb catfish in the trap. If you are a survivalist, you definitely need to consider the Duke or Conibear 110 as an essential survival tool. When placed correctly these traps will procure food very easily and with minimal effort. We put two Duke 110 traps in our 8 Liter Emergency Survival Snaring Kits we carry in our online store.

When it comes to squirrel 

Trap Durability - Performance

Personally we have not seen a great degree of difference when it comes to trap failure. Both the Duke and Conibear seem to have their pro’s and con’s such as failing to close properly resulting in a trapped but not dispatched animal but more often than not this equates to poor trap placement. We have punished the Duke, The Victor and even the Bridger is nearly every environment you can imagine and we get the same results. All the traps performed well, neither of them so far has failed us. At this point we simply can not note a big enough difference to either trap in order to justify one over the other. We have seen some larger animals pull free from both the Duke and the Conibear as well but again that equates to a poor placement or the animal simply being too large for that trap. So then what does it boil down to really? Well as a trapper I would say it boils down to the bottom line, after all it’s about the dollar sign when you do this for a living. Trapping supplies are money spent and money spent is in fact money lost right?

Price of Duke compared to Victors

The Duke traps sell online for an average of $3.25 – $5.99. The Conibear 110 has an average price of $5.95 – $6.25 so you can figure an extra two dollars spent per trap for a Conibear or two saved for a Duke. From the survivalist point of view then perhaps reliability might be more important and can justify that extra two dollars as they would only be carrying a few traps with them. For trappers the price difference can result in much more spent as they will require a lot of traps. Personally, I have Duke 110 traps from years ago still functioning properly.

How To Set Body Grip Traps

We decided to add this little info morsel into our article because a lot of people buy these and really don’t know how to set the body grip traps. Be careful when setting these as they are very powerful and can cause damage to fingers.

Our final thoughts

Our analysis in the difference between the two traps comes down to price preference. Dukes save money while Conibear adds a slight degree more reliability. Will that difference translate into a bigger payday at trade time will depend on many other factors. Personally we love both traps but when it boils down to cost, we always try to keep our cost as low as possible. Some trappers have flamed Bill Duke for having traps made in Korea however Bill Duke has done a lot for the trapping industry as well as education for the sport So personally I can overlook the made in Korea aspect as long as it works. Any business has to make a judgement when it comes to that bottom line we mention recently.

Duke and Conibear have definitely earned their place in the trapping industry and that is why we are proud to say we work very close with both companies to provide their products to our customers at an affordable price. The ultimate decision as to which to use is with you. Happy trapping and we wish you a very successful hunt.