This weekend I had a show with my band and it marked the first time ever a sound tech used drum trigger on a bass drum instead of a more usual thing - microphone - to get the sound. A drum trigger is a device that gets connected to the edge of the drum and has a sensor that is pushed against a drum head (skin) which is detecting vibrations when the drum is hit.
During soundcheck, I found some pros and some cons for triggers. One of the good things is that you get an even punch every time but it does sound kind of robotic, and it doesn't have a traditional more natural wooden sound that you get when you put a microphone in there.
My conclusion is that I personally would probably never use one unless the circumstances require. But each to their own!