Summary
To get any real base construction going, or even simply a good night’s sleep inSons 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 requiresurvival ingenuityto pull off and some knowledge of the behavior patterns of the many creatures inSons Of The Forest.
Whether to catch food or cannibals, traps can provide a reliable food source and some home defense in the otherwiseunforgiving wilderness. As such, new players should find this information useful as they decide which traps will benefit them the most.
Updated June 18, 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.
15Small Animal Trap
Capture Smaller Animals For Food
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 ofnutrition 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.
14Fish Trap
Catches Fish When Placed In Rivers, Lakes, Or The Ocean
From the opening helicopter ride alone, players will notice the vast bodies of water surrounding and within thedreadful island. Many stagnant pools of water are good for drinking, but unlike inThe Forest, they very rarely contain fish. Fast-moving rivers connected to the sea are the best place to look, or the coastline itself.
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 caughtwith relative ease by using the spear, and can be either cooked or eaten primitively raw.
13Bird Traps
An Improvised Trap To Farm Feathers For Arrows
Bird traps are useful for collecting feathers, which will in turn be useful for crafting arrows. Birds can be trapped bycrafting 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.
12Leaf Trap
Make Fire-Based Weapons Even Better
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.
11Bone Maker
Halts And Ignites Enemies
The “Bone Maker” lives up to its name as a dual-purpose defense trap and resource producer. While less effective againstlarger 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.
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.
10Fly Swatter
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 toharass the player’s base.Luckily, all the necessary materials are relatively easy to come by, even in the early game.
9Silent Alarm
An Alarm System To Warn Of Approaching Enemies
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.
8Spring Trap
Propels Enemies Into The Sky
The Spring Trap is one of the funniest and most effective traps in the game. Designed to launch enemies into the air,any cannibalcaught up in one of these will be catapulted into the sky, guaranteeing a brutal and traumatic death on impact.
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!
7Explosive Tripwire
Will Blow Up Anything In Its Radius When Activated
The Explosive Tripwire is one of the most dangerous, and therefore most effective, traps inSons 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.
6Molotov Tripwire
Ideal For Slowing Mutants And Groups Of Enemies
Much like the Explosive Tripwire, the Molotov Tripwire is another subtle and easily disguised trap thatunleashes pure devastationwhen triggered. Rather than detonating a grenade, a molotov will be smashed, causing large amounts of fire damage within its radius.
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.
