Making a Snare

Follow these steps to make a snare.

1. Cut a piece of stranded steel cable to the desired length of the snare.
2. Slide a stop onto the end of the cable, and crimp it with a swaging tool or a mallet.
3. Bend the last ½ inch of the cable near the stop into a figure-seven bend (the shape of a figure 7).
4. Mark the cable with tape or a colored marker at 7 inches from the point of the figure-seven bend.
5. Slide a mechanical sliding metal release lock on the cable to the figure-seven bend and next to the stop.
6. Slip another stop on the cable, and crimp it with a swaging tool or a mallet at the 7-inch mark so that the cable forms a loop that is at least 7 inches in circumference. This will be a loop of about 2 inches in diameter and creates the minimum loop stop.
7. Slide the cable through the lock in a direction that allows the loop to close freely but in a way that stops the loop from re-opening.
8. If you choose to install a support collar, place it on the cable. A screw-on support collar can also be placed on the cable restraint after it is constructed.
9. Place a double ferrule on the tail end of the snare, loop the cable, and insert it back through the ferrule, creating a 1- to 2-inch loop in the cable. Crimp the ferrule with a swaging tool or mallet.