Games

Best Traps In Sons Of The Forest

Published

2 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Christoph Rediske

Summary

Table of Contents

Traps are essential for survival in Sons of the Forest, providing both food and defense against cannibals.
New traps added in the full release offer various ways to catch food, slow enemies, and create devastation.
Some traps like the Grind Trap and the Spear Thrower are highly effective but require rare materials to craft.

To get any real base construction going, or even simply a good night’s sleep in Sons Of The Forest, it is wise to build traps to keep the tribes of curious and roving cannibals at bay. Most traps can be crafted via the Improvised Survival Structures Handbook, provided to the player in the emergency pack at the start of the game. Others require survival ingenuity to pull off and some knowledge of the behavior patterns of the many creatures in Sons Of The Forest.

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Whether to catch food or cannibals, traps can provide a reliable food source and some home defense in the otherwise unforgiving wilderness. As such, new players should find this information useful as they decide which traps will benefit them the most.

Updated January 8, 2025 by Andrew McLarney: With Sons of the Forest leaving early access and entering its full release, several new traps have been added to the game. Not all of the game’s traps are listed in the in-game “survival guide” and some can be found throughout the map in the form of blueprints. Existing entries have also been updated where necessary and rankings adjusted per the effectiveness of each trap.

15

Small Animal Trap

Capture Smaller Animals For Food

Crafting Requirements: 14x Sticks

One of the basic requirements for any forest-dwelling encampment is the Small Animal Trap. This easy-to-build trap will help in catching rodents and small game ranging from squirrels to turtles, which can provide a useful boost of nutrition for hungry survivors.

First, find a suitable location with plenty of small creatures. They will often travel close to water sources such as rivers and lakes, so these are a good place to begin. After building and placing the trap, simply check back after one in-game day. If the trap is successful, it can be reset at the cost of one stick to prop it back up. If the trap is empty, leave it for another day or two. If it is still empty at that time, it may be wise to build another one in a different location.

14

Fish Trap

Catches Fish When Placed In Rivers, Lakes, Or The Ocean

Crafting Requirements: 25x Sticks

From the opening helicopter ride alone, players will notice the vast bodies of water surrounding and within the dreadful island. Many stagnant pools of water are good for drinking, but unlike in The Forest, they very rarely contain fish. Fast-moving rivers connected to the sea are the best place to look, or the coastline itself.

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Bear in mind, however, that many players have reported bugs with the fish trap thus far. However, this will likely be addressed by the developers in the future. In the meantime, fish can be caught with relative ease by using the spear, and can be either cooked or eaten primitively raw.

13

Bird Traps

An Improvised Trap To Farm Feathers For Arrows

Crafting Requirements: 1x Stick, 1x Skull, 3x Rocks

Bird traps are useful for collecting feathers, which will in turn be useful for crafting arrows. Birds can be trapped by crafting a stick with a skull on top of it, which the birds will come to peck. Once lured in, the player is free to kill them with the bow and arrow or the slingshot and take the feathers.

The craftable birdhouse will attract birds who will leave behind the occasional feather, but hunting them will yield a lot more feathers in total. A variation of this will already exist for players who have the “Sea Crash” opening, as two bodies on sticks are displayed down at the main beach. These will reliably attract birds to them which the player can.

12

Leaf Trap

Make Fire-Based Weapons Even Better

Crafting Requirements: 25x Leaves

The leaf trap is one of the easiest to construct and is best used in conjunction with fire-based traps like the Bone Maker and Molotov Tripwire. Using leaf traps can be a very effective means of base defense, especially in conjunction with other traps.

Setting fire to enemies is one of the best ways to defeat them, and the advantage of leaf traps is their ability to target several enemies at once. Without setting fire to the leaf traps, however, they are relatively ineffective. Therefore, they can be seen as more of an enhancement or an upgrade than a useful standalone trap.

11

Bone Maker

Halts And Ignites Enemies

Crafting Requirements: 2x Sticks, 3x Leaves, 3x Rocks, 1x Vodka Bottle, 1x Rope

The “Bone Maker” lives up to its name as a dual-purpose defense trap and resource producer. While less effective against larger cannibals, it is more than sufficient for taking out smaller ones. Bones can be used for a variety of purposes, from crafting armor and weapons to furniture and decorations. This fire-based trap will impale and burn cannibals alive. It’s pretty much the same thing they would do to the player character if the roles were reversed, so don’t feel too bad about that.

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Once the corpse is sufficiently charred, it can be looted for bones and a skull. These items serve a variety of purposes, such as the improvised bird trap. The blueprints for the trap can be found in the Guide Book under the magenta “Traps” section.

10

Fly Swatter

Swats Enemies Dead When Triggered

Crafting Materials: 10x Sticks, 3x Stones, 1x Rope

This ruthless invention is a spring-based trap that will swat down cannibals in an instant, causing massive damage and blunt-force trauma. Available from the player’s Guide Book, this template can be constructed with fewer materials than the Bone Maker. However, due to the nature of its design, a tripwire must be triggered, meaning the trap must be facing in the correct direction to be effective.

This trap is best placed in any sort of chokepoints or pathways that cannibals might regularly use to harass the player’s base. Luckily, all the necessary materials are relatively easy to come by, even in the early game.

9

Silent Alarm

An Alarm System To Warn Of Approaching Enemies

Sons Of The Forest Silent Alarm Radio Trap Patch 9 Update

Crafting Requirements: 1x Wire, 8x Bones, 1x Radio, 1x Rock, 1x Skull, 13x Sticks

The Silent Alarm is a type of warning system that players can implement in the outer perimeter of their base. When triggered, it will play a loud warning sound, which can be useful when occupied with other tasks to know that enemies have encroached on the base.

Despite being a useful asset, it is likely not worth the effort for early-game players to go out of their way to acquire the rare materials required to construct it. Since this trap will not damage enemies, it is often more advantageous to place lethal traps instead.

8

Spring Trap

Propels Enemies Into The Sky

Crafting Requirements: 2x Wire, 1x Turtle Shell, 7x Sticks

The Spring Trap is one of the funniest and most effective traps in the game. Designed to launch enemies into the air, any cannibal caught up in one of these will be catapulted into the sky, guaranteeing a brutal and traumatic death on impact.

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The trap is relatively easy to make since the crafting materials are not exceptionally rare. This can make a great alternative to some of the more complex traps when materials are in short supply. Just be careful not to accidentally step on the trap by mistake!

7

Explosive Tripwire

Will Blow Up Anything In Its Radius When Activated

Crafting Requirements: 1x Stick, 1x Wire, 1x Grenade

The Explosive Tripwire is one of the most dangerous, and therefore most effective, traps in Sons of The Forest. While many players may wish to horde grenades, it can be useful to set them up in traps as this will likely cause substantial damage to any roving tribes or mutants seeking to snoop around a player base.

The requirements are relatively straightforward, so it can make for an excellent little trap in particularly vulnerable chokepoints where cannibals frequently travel. The trap will create a lot of noise though, so be prepared for a battle if the tripwire is set off.

6

Molotov Tripwire

Ideal For Slowing Mutants And Groups Of Enemies

Crafting Requirements: 1x Stick, 1x Rope, 1x Rock, 1x Vodka Bottle, 4x Leaves

Much like the Explosive Tripwire, the Molotov Tripwire is another subtle and easily disguised trap that unleashes pure devastation when triggered. Rather than detonating a grenade, a molotov will be smashed, causing large amounts of fire damage within its radius.

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This can be even more effective when combined with the aforementioned leaf trap, which can create a wider surface area to burn. Given that molotovs are generally easier to come by than grenades, this trap can be an excellent go-to if cannibals and mutants are frequently stalking a base from the same location.

5

Grind Trap

A Brutal Machine Which Turns Cannibals Into Burger Meat

Sons Of The Forest Best Traps Grind Trap

Crafting Requirements: 65x Stick, 3x Wire, 1x Skull, 2x Planks, 2x Stones, 1x Golf Cart Battery, 1x Knight V

The Grind Trap is by far one of the most brutal traps in the game, but also one of the most effective. When triggered, enemies will be pulled into a spinning grinder made of sharpened sticks, which will promptly churn them into a gory mess.

The trap is ideal for taking down scouts and enemy fighters if they attempt to launch an attack on one’s base. Once it has finished a “cycle,” the trap needs to be reset with a single stick, which is very good considering its effectiveness.

4

Spin Trap

Crafting Requirements: 37x Stick, 5x Wire, 1x Lightbulb, 1x Battery

The Spin Trap is arguably one of the best base-defense traps in the game since it has a wide area of effect and is capable of taking down several enemies at a time. When triggered, the spin trap will deploy two rotating “arms” covered in spikes which impale any enemies in the vicinity.

The blueprints for this particular trap can be found in a small cabin in the northeast of the map. It is well worth seeking out the blueprints as the design of the trap can make area control considerably easier, enabling enemies to be funneled toward even further traps or defenses.

3

Spear Thrower

A Powerful Long Ranged Projectile Launcher

Sons Of The Forest Best Traps Spear Thrower Trap

Crafting Requirements: 3x Wire, 2x Log, 1x Battery, 2x Sticks, 8x Bone, 3x C4 Brick

The Spear Thrower/Javelin Launcher is one of the best defensive traps in the game. When the wide tripwire is triggered, it will fire off up to four spears which can be reloaded. It is best used in corridors and in groups of two or more, since enemies may survive the first spear and continue running onward.

If positioned properly, this trap can easily take out entire groups of enemies and has the advantage of being able to cause repeat damage, unlike many other traps in the game. Overall, while the materials can be difficult to acquire, it is certainly worth having a couple of these positioned around your main base.

2

Hokey Pokey Trap

Crushes Enemies Who Wander Beneath It

Sons Of The Forest Traps Hokey Pokey Trap

Crafting Requirements: 10x Sticks, 15x Rocks, 3x Ropes, 6x Logs

The Hokey Pokey Trap is a variation of an old favorite from the first game. It features a large, suspended rock which, when triggered, drops and crushes any poor victim below almost instantaneously. Due to its power and effectiveness, it has more crafting requirements than some other traps, but most of the items required can be found in abundance throughout the game world.

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The trap’s size means that it is frequently able to take out multiple enemies at once, and can often impale them with the large spikes jutting out from the rocks. Unlike some other traps, it can be reset relatively easily and is therefore an ideal choice when it comes to building extra fortifications and base defenses.

1

Multi-Trap

A Devastating Trap Utilizing The Natural Elements

Sons Of The Forest Best Traps Multi Trap

Requirements: 4x Wire, 2x Skull, 2x Vodka Bottle, 14x Sticks, 3x Leaves, 6x Rocks, 1x Golf Cart Battery, 15x Bones, 2x Rope.

When it comes to traps in Sons of the Forest, it’s hard to find any better than the multi-trap. Like many of the more advanced designs, this particular trap will not initially appear in the survival guide until you have found its blueprint in the southwestern area of the map.

When triggered, the multi-trap will both electrocute and set fire to enemies, making it ideal for taking down some of the larger cannibals or mutants in the game. Due to the high amount of resources required to assemble it, this is best used as a late-game, inner-base defense.