Sleepy Creek?

Silly question I know, but curiosity is killing me- has anyone attempted to buy out Sleepy Creek and start manufacturing again? Anything in the works I’ve missed?

It will probably be awhile before these new sleepy Creek traps are available.

All the equipment is in Hortense, GA and steel prices and lack of demand at those prices is why.

This^^^^....and...

Southern Snares/Brian McKee owns SC now.

Lack of demand??? Every batch of used sleepy creeks I see come up for sale bring nearly as much or more than what they sold for new. Steel isn't coming down any time soon. They should just start making them again and raise the price like every other business has done in the last 3 years.

Why are used traps being sold? Particularly excellent user traps?

The market is saturated.

Low fur prices= less trapping. Inflation and unused traps =,$ and stuff out of the way. Trappers as a group are getting older and not able to trap like they once did= liquidation

If the market was saturated with sleepy creeks they wouldn't be bringing the high prices they are. Any that come up at conventions and swap meets are quickly snatched up - foreign made traps sit there unsold. The market is saturated with lower quality foreign made traps of poor quality steel.There use to be a big price difference between U.S made traps and foreign traps , but that's not the case now- new Duke 1.5 coils are nearly as much as Victor 1.5 coils. I'd rather pay $10 a dozen more for traps made here with quality steel than foreign stuff. Them Sleepy creeks were top quality stuff.

Sometimes we don’t appreciate things until they’re gone.

That's awesome that Sleepy creek has resale value!

I wonder if the new owner of Sleepy Creek will have the same guarantee as the old owners? I couldn't understand how a trap company have that kind of a guarantee and still be in business. By the way, I love Sleepy Creek.

I spoke with them 2 days ago while putting in an order for snares. They said USA steel is very hard to come by right now along with the high prices. The steel supplier is having a difficult time keeping BMW automobiles supplied, so you can guess where a trap manufacturer ranks in their priority list to BMW. Another major hurdle with the steel supplier is the minimum order is a semi-load for each size. So for a certain size/spec of metal that Sleepy Creek may only need a very small amount of, they are required to buy a semi-load of that size, making it cost-prohibitive.

Stocked up on SC right before Nancy closed the door on the WV facility...Glad I did!

I saw a place thar has a few new #5 long spring off sets for 125$ if they can sell at that price I don't see how it would not be profitable.

Sleepy Creek made a decent mix of traps. I have a few of the 1.5 CS double jaws..........#11 DLS and a couple 110 and 120 body grips. The latter are OK but nothing special. Duke and Belisle seem to have that demand covered....both in sizes and quality.

But from what SC made, what is it that was and would be on most demand? The double long springs? I have some Duke #11's and they are no where near what the SC #11's were. Not in design, fit or function. I don't have any of the larger #4 or #5, but if memory serves, in that class, they were some of the best. Anything else that ought to be revived?

I've never seen one made, but seems to me a long spring trap is made from a collection of stamped and folded / bent parts. If the machines were setup for this, with dies, etc, it ought to not be hard to do once the operator is up to speed on it. US Steel would be best, but as long as right grade is selected, other ought to work. There are machine shops all over that have steel and they are not buying it by the truckload. But again, I have not seen it done, so don't really know what it takes to punch these out.

I have very similar thoughts. Personally, I’d love a dozen of the famed SC #4-1/2 DLS.

Love my SC traps. #4 OS double coilspring held a 32lb wolverine that wandered over to a lynx set.