It is true American Mining does have the Le'Trap mold bought from John at Jobe after he bankrupted. However, before that, I was already making the Le'Trap. It is identical in design and has the same drops. Mine is identical to the original. For the sake of not arguing, that mold American Mining has is not the original either. There was an older version before that. There are no patents on this and never were. The design is public domain. I had many dealers ask me to make the Le'Trap when no one was making it for a couple years. They all asked me to make it about 8 inches shorter because almost all the Gold is caught in the first few riffles. 8" shorter does not make it catch less gold or work differently. Also the shipping cost to send the original longer version was a lot more. When they are shipped they go by the shipping size. When a dealer buys them even in bulk, the cost to reship them is high.
When Michael bought the mold , John from the closed Jobe never told him that I was already making them. John came to my shop and seen mine and tried to get me to sell exclusively to him. I said I would sell them to him at a jobber price and I guess he didin't like that. Michael found out the night before that I was making them. I was asked by dealers to make a mini version for backpackers, which I did. It has the same drops and riffle design but weighs less than a pound. Side by side they do the same thing and catch the same amount of Gold. I think they are both good products. If you put them side by side they will catch the same gold.