Buyer's Guide
Pig Brig Trap System vs Boar Blanket
Both catch pigs. Only one is built to hold the whole sounder when they charge the net wall.
You found this page because, like us, you do your research before deciding. We take the same approach, and the Pig Brig® Trap has years in the field to show for it.
When a competitor’s trap came out, we bought it, ran it against ours on the same ground, and filmed what happened.
Here’s the breakdown.
Jump to the side-by-side comparison ↓
Remember: the most cost-effective trap is the one that works and holds the entire sounder.
We bought a Boar Blanket and ran it ourselves
We bought a Boar Blanket and set it up at the same site where we run our Pig Brig® Trap. Same bait. Same trail cameras. The trap was the only thing that changed. We followed Boar Blanket’s own setup video, then used the Boar Blanket trap to trap live pigs and recorded what happened.
In our test, the Boar Blanket trap allowed escapes from the bottom of the net. The Boar Blanket has no internal anchor stakes, so when pigs hit the sidewall, the net lifted and opened a gap along the bottom. The Boar Blanket trap caught 23 pigs and had 3 escapes, one out of the front and two out of the back. In the clip below you can watch the one at the front break out, and see the two that went out the back loose behind the trap.
Then a ground anchor pulled out. That can happen in certain soils when pigs are active, and we run the same anchors. What happened next is the difference: with the anchor gone, the low-friction ring of the Boar Blanket trap that is supposed to hold the net slid off the top of the post, and the sidewall fell two to three feet. With pigs still inside and our operator present, it was not just about lost pigs, it was a safety problem.
We ran the Boar Blanket trap once. When the wall dropped with our operator present, we treated that as a safety stop and did not run it again.
Our trail-cam footage from the test: the Boar Blanket net lifts and pigs walk out.
On the Boar Blanket, the net hangs from a ring over each T-post. When a ground anchor pulled out, the ring slid off the top of the post and the wall fell two to three feet mid-handling. An experienced operator was left holding the net up with one hand and working the pigs with the other. The equipment should hold the wall so the operator is not exposed to a compromised trap filled with angry pigs.
“I have about five years running net-style hog traps and have caught hundreds of pigs. With around twenty pigs inside for under thirty minutes, both layers of the [Boar Blanket] net were badly damaged. I have never felt unsafe using other net traps, but this time I was genuinely concerned about stability and safety.”
Randy Wreyford, Junction, TX
Think that’s just us talking our own book?
Here is Mike Bodenchuk, former State Director USDA Wildlife Services (TX & UT), with no stake in either trap, walking through what actually makes a net trap hold. Watch the details he says to check: net strength, anchoring, T-post connection points, and how the trap contains a full sounder. Those are exactly the three we break down next.
An independent walkthrough of what to look for in a net trap.
What the video covers
Mike Bodenchuk, a wildlife biologist with 45 years in feral hog management and 34 years with USDA Wildlife Services, walks through how to choose a net trap for wild hogs. He states up front that he is not paid by any company. He explains why net traps are lighter, easier for one person to set up, usable without cell coverage, and more humane than hard panel traps, then breaks down the details that decide whether a trap holds a full sounder:
- Net quality and strength. Knotted nets attract chewing and tear, so net material and strength matter when a sounder challenges the wall as a group.
- How the net attaches to the T-post. Some traps use clamps that lock to the post, while others use rings or plates that can fail. If that junction fails, pigs jump the lowered side and people nearby are at risk.
- How the apron is anchored. Long stakes that pin the apron to the ground hold under a charge, while a cable-only system lets the apron lift so pigs escape.
- Trap shape. Sides that slope inward catch non-target deer, more vertical sides do not.
His bottom line: match the trap to your objectives, and do not trade away net strength, a secure T-post junction, or a staked apron to save a few dollars, because a trap failure means escaped pigs, unmet objectives, and a safety risk.
Read the full transcript
I'm Mike Bodenchuk, a professional wildlife biologist with over 45 years of experience managing human-wildlife conflict. I have extensive experience with feral hog, or wild pig, management, and I have done research going all the way back to 1980. Today I'm talking about wild pig net traps. It's important to mention that I'm not being paid by any group, company, or individual to do this. I'm trying to get information out about the differences in net traps, why you might select a net trap over a hard panel trap or another type of trap, and the advantages and disadvantages you might see.
Wild pig management is critical. Wild pigs do over half a billion dollars of damage annually, and increasingly people are managing pig damage rather than treating them as game animals. I recently published a paper on how objectives affect your choice of equipment. What you're trying to accomplish should be the driving force behind the methods, tools, and equipment you buy. Time-saving options like remote cameras and cellular gate deployment do save time and money for professional trappers managing multiple traps across properties. A landowner working a single property may not need all that equipment. The equipment you choose should match your objectives.
Why consider net traps? All net traps are not created the same, but they're all lighter than hard panel or corral traps, easily set up by one person, and can be moved into areas without cellular coverage. They're designed to be used by nonprofessional trappers. If you know how to drive a T-post, you know how to set up a net trap. They're easy to construct, deploy, and bait, and universally less expensive than hard panel traps with cellular gates and cameras. Net traps are also more humane than hard panel traps. When a pig challenges the sides of a hard panel trap it hits the wire very hard, and you'll see skinned or broken noses and broken teeth. In humane testing, net traps have been determined to be much more humane.
All net traps are designed with net sides and an inside apron attached to the bottom of the trap. An important feature is a second net apron or cap at the top to prevent pigs from jumping out. Pigs are pre-baited into the trap with the sides secured up. Once they enter comfortably, the sides are lowered, and the pigs burrow under the apron to reach the bait. When they try to leave, they're standing on the apron, which prevents them from forcing their way out. Other pigs can still enter from the outside.
When considering a net trap, quality should be the primary consideration. Consider first the quality of the net. Some traps have woven rope sides while others have knotted junctions in the net. Any trap will have some wear and tear, but knotted nets seem to attract chewing by pigs, and holes will need repair between deployments. From a safety standpoint, the strength of the net is also important. Pigs challenge a trap as a group, and the net needs to be strong enough to withstand that force.
The sides of the net trap are typically held in place by common T-posts, secured by tie-down straps and earth anchors. Some traps use eight T-posts while others use ten. The more secure you can make the sides, the better they withstand the challenge by pigs. How the net attaches to the T-post is another critical consideration. Some traps use clamps to secure the trap to the top of the post, while others use rings, plates, or other points of attachment. These must not fail. If an earth anchor pulls out or a T-post bends, the top of the net must not be compromised. If that happens, pigs can jump over the lowered side and people nearby are at risk. Make sure you use the most secure point of attachment at the T-post and net junction.
The bottom of the apron needs to be secure, and there are different ways to do this. One system uses long stakes to secure the bottom of the apron to the ground at the inside of the trap. Other designs rely on a cable system to secure one side of the apron to the opposite side. That design is easier to deploy, especially in rocky soil, but it also allows the apron to lift up when pigs charge the side of the trap, and when that happens pigs may escape.
One final consideration is the shape of the trap and how it affects non-target entry. In my testing, traps with sides that slope significantly toward the inside caught deer regularly, while traps with more vertical sides did not have the same incursion rate. Trap buyers and users need to understand the differences in trap types and how they affect quality, efficacy, and safety. Saving a few dollars up front may seem like a good idea, but it can result in unmet objectives and more pig damage. A failure at the T-post and net junction especially allows pigs to escape, and that's a safety concern.
Three details decide every escape
The Boar Blanket trap and the Pig Brig® trap work the same on paper. Bait the pigs in, drop the sides, and they push on the net when they try to leave.
Whether the trap contains the pigs comes down to three things: how the bottom edge is anchored, what the net is made of, and how the wall is secured to the posts. The Boar Blanket gives up ground on all three. (See the full Pig Brig® Trap system and specs.)
1. Anchor the inside bottom edge
The inside bottom edge, which we call the skirt and the Boar Blanket calls an apron, is where escapes start. Pigs lift the skirt to enter the net and stand on it when they want to leave. Pig Brig® net traps pin that skirt to the ground with internal anchor stakes, so it does not lift when they hit the opposite wall. The Boar Blanket holds its bottom edge with a stainless cable and no internal anchor stakes. In our test, with nothing pinning the skirt down, the Boar Blanket net lifted when pigs got active and they walked out under it.
Field tested
Some net traps skip internal anchor stakes because it is convenient for the operator. We built ours in because we saw what happens without them: the net lifts and pigs get out. Lots of field research and iterations went into that one detail, and it is why ours contains pigs when a sounder gets active.Straight off the trail cam in development: our own early net without internal anchor stakes. This clip is why the stakes exist.
2. A heavy, knotless inner layer
The net has to take a whole sounder chewing and pushing on it. According to their published specifications, the Boar Blanket uses #36 nylon mesh on both layers, the kind used for baseball backstops. We learned the hard way that it takes a heavier net to hold a sounder. We field-tested our net again and again and built ours double-walled: a heavy-duty, knotless Boar Shield inner layer, square mesh at 1.5 in or less, backed by a polysteel sewn topline. We build it knotless because pigs zero in on any knot or anomaly to chew, and on the square instead of the diamond so it resists stretch. (How the netting evolved.)
3. Lock the net to the frame
A trap only works if the wall stays up. Pig Brig® net traps run 10 T-posts for hoop strength, so the frame resists flexing, and the net locks to each post with a T-post mount instead of a loose ring. Our T-post mounts cannot slide off the top of the T-post. The Pig Brig® trap also includes mid-post cam straps that dampen pig impact loads on the net and keep the net from lifting or shifting. On the Boar Blanket, the net hangs from a ring that drops over the top of each post. In our test, when a ground anchor pulled out, that ring slid off the top of a post and the sidewall fell two to three feet.
Catch most of the sounder and you trained the rest
When a trap fails or pigs escape with the operator present, the pigs that break out do not simply forget it. A collapse with a person near the trap is a stressful, memorable event, and pigs turn trap-shy fast. The ones that get out are the smartest animals in the sounder, still rooting and still breeding, and once they learn to avoid the trap, you have lost the tool that works best on them. Whole-sounder capture is the only number that counts, which is why the parts that keep the net in place and your operator safe under a full-group charge matter as much as they do.
Side-by-side comparison
✓ marks an advantage. Most are Pig Brig®’s; a couple go to Boar Blanket. Rows without a mark are even. We are not going to pretend we win everything.
| What to look for | Pig Brig® Trap System | Boar Blanket |
|---|---|---|
| Catching & holding power | ||
| Internal anchoring | ✓ 5 internal anchor stakes secure the skirt to the ground, containing active sounders. | Metal wire cable connects to 4 points on the trap from a center ring, with no anchoring to the ground. |
| Keeping the wall up | ✓ Net locks to each T-post with a T-post mount. Mid-post cam straps limit lift and shift. | Net hangs from rings that slide on and off the top of each post. No mid-post cam straps. |
| Net design | ✓ Double-walled and knotless on both layers, with a heavy-duty Boar Shield inner layer built on the square and a polysteel sewn topline. (See our spec page.) | #36 nylon netting on both layers, double-knotted and diamond orientation. |
| Mesh size | ✓ Even our outer layer runs a tighter mesh, 1.5 in or less, so there is more net where pigs push and chew, backed by a heavier Boar Shield inner layer. | 1 7/8 in square mesh on both layers. Larger openings, less net. |
| Independent research | ✓ In a USDA field trial, Pig Brig® net traps removed nearly 2 to 2.5 times more wild pigs per capture event than corral and box traps. The Pig Brig® Trap has been the capture tool in multiple peer-reviewed studies. (Lavelle et al., 2025, Wildlife Research) (The science in plain terms.) | No published research |
| Connection points | ✓ 10 connection points to your T-posts, so each holds a shorter span of net. If one lets go, less wall gives way. | 8 connection points, so each holds a longer span, and one failure drops a larger section. |
| Top rope | ✓ Polysteel top-rope to prevent stretch. | Nylon rope that will stretch and wear over time. |
| Wet weather & mud | Lightweight skirt and outer layer. The heavy-duty inner layer can hold more water weight when wet. | ✓ Lightweight skirt and outer layer that sheds mud and stays light. |
| Catch method | Passive, 360° entry. No gate, no trigger, no cell service. Optional trigger and baiting feeder available. | Passive, 360° entry. No gate, no trigger, no cell service. Optional trigger available. |
| Owning & running it | ||
| Out of the box | ✓ Comes ready to trap. | The Boar Blanket trap requires the operator to close the seam before trapping. This increases set up time and leaves room for error if not done correctly. |
| Replacement parts | ✓ Buy individual parts: cam straps, repair kits, T-post mounts, and anchor stakes. Many can be sourced at hardware or feed stores. | Full unit only. No published single-part availability. |
| Support | ✓ Real humans who trap pigs themselves, and one of the most praised parts of our 450+ five-star reviews. Call or text 1-833-PIG-BRIG. (How our support works.) | Customer support for install and troubleshooting. |
| Education & resources | ✓ How-it-works guides, specs, evaluation checklist, webinars, and the private Facebook Owners Group. | Limited product instructions and case studies. |
| Customization | ✓ Run it with or without a trap cap. | Only available with a cap. |
| Removing pigs | Trailer out the whole sounder, live. | Trailer out the whole sounder, live. |
| Portability | 10 T-posts for hoop strength and stability. A little more to carry on a deep pack-in, though either trap can be set on trees with no T-posts at all. (Tree sets.) | ✓ Fewer posts and thinner net may be lighter to backpack into remote woods. |
| Track record | ||
| 100-day guarantee | ✓ 100-day money-back guarantee, plus an optional extended protection plan. | Not published |
| Design origin | ✓ Pioneered continuous-catch net trapping, with more than six years in the field. Nothing like it existed at launch. Patented, with more pending. | Entered the category more recently. |
| Team & credentials | ✓ Engineered and backed by wildlife professionals (Field Engine Wildlife Research & Management). Patented system. Used in African swine fever eradication work in Germany, Italy, and Spain. | Manufacturer. Credentials not published. |
| Years in the field | ✓ 6 years, 11,000+ traps, 38 countries. | Launched March 2025. |
| Reviews | ✓ 450+ five-star reviews. | Very limited public review volume. |
| Owners who would recommend it | ✓ 9 out of 10 (91 NPS) | Not published |
| Warranty | 1-year limited warranty. | 1-year limited warranty. |
Seen enough? Shop Pig Brig® Traps →
11,000+ traps. 450+ five-star reviews. 9 of 10 recommend it.
The Pig Brig® Trap has more than six years in the field, and it now runs in 38 countries. That track record is the one thing you can’t shortcut.
Pig Brig® Trap Systems is the pioneer of continuous-catch net trapping. From Texas cattle ranches to Germany’s African swine fever eradication effort, Pig Brig® net traps have been the trap of choice. In the Sipsey Wilderness, a federal interagency team switched almost entirely to Pig Brig® net traps for whole-sounder removal in terrain too rugged and remote for vehicles or cell-based traps. (Jolly et al., 2024, Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference. More on remote-terrain removal.)
Pig Brig® Traps have 450+ five-star reviews and a 91 NPS, with 9 out of 10 owners saying they would recommend it. Those are numbers earned over years in the field.
When feral hogs took over George’s ranch, his livestock survival rate dropped to 0%. He put the Pig Brig® Trap System to work.
See how he reclaimed his livelihood and cleared his land for good.
George Wardlaw, a Pig Brig® owner. Read all our five-star reviews.
So, which trap is right for you?
If the lightest pack-in is what matters most, the Boar Blanket is the lighter carry.
If you want to hold the whole sounder, keep your operator safe, and have people to call when you need them, the Pig Brig® Trap System is built for exactly that: internal anchor stakes, a heavy-duty knotless Boar Shield inner layer, 10 connection points locked with T-post mounts and mid-post cam straps, all backed by real support and a 100-day money-back guarantee.
Every company makes different calls on how it builds a trap. We landed on ours the hard way. Our early traps did not have internal ground anchors either, until fieldwork showed us they were necessary. Same with net weight and how the net ties to the posts. We did not guess our way to this design, we field-tested our way to it.
Not sure what fits your ground? Read our guide to choosing the right hog trap.
Common questions
Why does the Pig Brig® Trap cost more?
You are paying for the parts that keep pigs in and operators safe: heavy-duty Boar Shield netting, internal anchor stakes, mid-post cam straps, hardware for 10 T-posts, and a polysteel topline. Every trap is quality controlled and made with attention to the details that keep the wall up. And the price is backed by a 100-day money-back guarantee, so if it does not earn its keep on your ground, you send it back.
Can I buy replacement parts on their own?
Yes. Buy individual parts: cam straps, repair kits, T-post mounts, and anchor stakes. Many can be sourced at a hardware or feed store. This keeps one damaged piece from costing you the whole trap.
Are Pig Brig® net traps or the Boar Blanket better for whole-sounder capture?
Both are passive multi-catch net traps. Pig Brig® Traps are built to hold when the entire sounder charges the side at once, using internal anchor stakes that keep the skirt pinned to the ground under that load, plus 360-degree entry so pigs keep coming in through the night.
How is the bottom of the net secured?
Pig Brig® Traps use internal anchor stakes that pin the skirt to the ground. The Boar Blanket uses a stainless-steel inner cable system and, per its published specs, no inner ground anchors.
Is the Pig Brig® Trap passive-only?
Passive is not a limitation here, it is the point. The trap keeps catching as pigs keep coming, so you take the whole sounder, not just a few. A trigger option is available if you want to control the timing of the net drop, and even then it keeps catching after the net is down.
What is the Pig Brig® net made of?
Our inner layer is heavy-duty knotless Boar Shield, constructed on the square to resist chewing and stretch. Because it is woven and not knitted, a cut or bite stays local. It does not unravel or run. You may also see our net described elsewhere as a “wadded taper.” That is the pleating in the skirt. Any time you form a long rectangular piece of net into a circle, there is extra material that has to be gathered. We gather ours into pleats, sewn or sometimes bunched, and both work, so the skirt sits tight and pigs meet less friction pushing under to get in. Boar Blanket leaves theirs ungathered, so it hangs floppy.
Do Pig Brig® Traps come with a guarantee?
Yes. Every Pig Brig® Trap purchase is backed by a 100-day money-back guarantee and a 1-year limited warranty. You can also add an extended protection plan, in 1-year or 2-year terms, that picks up after the limited warranty and covers netting and replacement hardware with no deductible.
Is catching most of the sounder good enough?
No. Pigs that escape a partial catch learn to avoid traps, so they get harder to catch and keep breeding. When that escape happens during a collapse, with an operator right there, it is a stressful, memorable event, and pigs turn trap-shy fast. Whole-sounder capture is the goal, which is why the details that keep the net secure under a full sounder charge matter so much.
Do Pig Brig® Traps work on pigs that jump?
Yes. An optional trap cap, an inner net ring, keeps jumpers inside. Run the trap with or without it depending on your situation.
Is the trap ready to use out of the box?
Yes. Pig Brig® Traps come ready to trap. The Boar Blanket requires you to close the seam yourself before first use.
How long have Pig Brig® Traps been proven in the field?
Six years, with 11,000+ traps across 38 countries, 450+ five-star reviews, and 9 out of 10 owners saying they would recommend them.
Did Pig Brig® Trap Systems originate the continuous-catch net trap?
Yes. Net traps themselves are not new, but Pig Brig® Trap Systems pioneered a continuous-catch net trap, a passive system that keeps catching without resetting. There was nothing like it when we built it. The system is patented, with more patents pending, and it has been in the field for over six years.
Try it for 100 days.
Set it on your ground. Run it against your pigs. If it does not work, send it back. No questions.
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