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So someone I know is doing mousetrap this year - it's his first year in science olympiad - and was looking for a kit to help him build a vehicle. He found a Pitsco kit on amazon https://www.amazon.com/Pitsco-Basic-Mou ... B0085YY8YC , but judging from the photos, that has a mousetrap with the actual trap removed. Am I right in saying that this would be illegal, and he needs to use an unmodified mousetrap, complete with mouse-snapping bits, as bought from the hardware store?

(I'm also amused to read the first review of that kit, from someone called Mellisa Boan, talking about how in the previous year she built three vehicles for science olympiad, and her kid's friend's parents built five. )

Yes - that's the Doc Fizzix mousetrap kit. The instructions there tell you to cut part of the hammer bar, which does make it easier to install a lever arm. However you're right that rule 3.a specifically prohibits that. Instead, some zip ties/super glue can attach a lever arm to an intact hammer bar.

I can't believe I have to make this post hhh
The middle school team's competition is in about a month, and they haven't even started on their build. At this point the only way they're going to get anywhere is if they get a kit and modify it for competition Is there a specific kit you would recomend? I saw the Pitsco kit, but also found two more from Doc Fizzix and I'm not sure which one would work better.

Be careful of some mousetrap kits that have modified mousetraps. Which is a construction violation if any original parts of the trap are missing. You may need to replace the mousetrap that comes with the kit.