Trappers ( Far Harbor ) The Trappers are a hostile faction operating on the Island in 2287 . Background . The trappers came to the Island in search of rare animal skins and pelts . While some still hunt the rare animals , most have left the island or have been driven insane by the fog , as shown by the cannibal trappers in The Arrival who ate the synth trying to find his way to Acadia . Bases . Aside from the named locations mentioned above , numerous unmarked trapper camps are scattered all over the Island . They are usually occupied by two or three levelled trappers . Gameplay attributes . Although the reason for their insanity may be different , trappers are for all intents and purposes the Island ' s equivalent of raiders and behave virtually the same once combat is initiated . Just like the Commonwealth ' s highwaymen , trappers will attack on sight and their strongholds should be approached with caution . What sets them apart to some extent is their lack of drug - addled taunting , something Commonwealth raiders are very fond of doing even when faced with impossible odds . Trappers also do not seem to care much about each other , given that they express no emotion whatsoever when they witness members of their group being killed . Another distinguishing feature is the trappers ' apparently complete lack of female members . While the ranks of Commonwealth raiders are made up of men and women in equal measure , the trapper population on the Island is entirely male . In order to have a chance at surviving the Island ' s hostile environment , trappers protect themselves with trapper armor or coastal armor , supplemented by an abundance of leather armor and metal armor pieces . For offense they utilize standard raider gear , ranging from pipe guns over hunting rifles and combat rifles to exclusive Far Harbor equipment like lever - action rifles and the dangerous harpoon gun . The occasional melee weapon may also be employed , often taking the form of meat hooks or , more rarely , pole hooks . Trappers make no use of energy weapons or irradiated gear , so having good ballistic damage resistance is enough to mitigate most of their threat potential . Variants . Trapper . The weakest of their kind , basic trappers still should not be underestimated . They may be less resilient than their stronger comrades , but they often compensate their relative fragility with surprisingly powerful weapons like lever - action rifles and harpoon guns . If that is the case , they should be targeted first since they are the easiest to kill but can inflict great amounts of damage when left alone for too long . Ruthless trapper . The most experienced and , as the title suggests , most ruthless of their ilk , ruthless trappers tend to be the primary threat in any given encounter with trappers . They usually wear the heaviest armor and carry extensively modified weaponry which they use to deadly effect . Unless there are equally heavily armed but less resilient enemies around , dispatching them quickly before they can bring their superior equipment to bear should be everyone ' s first priority . While ruthless trappers typically serve as group leaders once they begin to appear , with increasing player level they gradually replace the other variants until trapper strongholds are populated almost entirely with ruthless trappers . Notes . The three non - hostile trappers who are part of the quest The Arrival can be killed with impunity . When they respawn after a couple of in - game days , they retain their neutral behavior and will only attack in self - defense . Appearances . Trappers appear only in the " Fallout 4 " add - on " Far Harbor " .