Advice on Buying Long Spring Traps

Just what the title says, not sure what to look for in new long springs, I'm aware of Bridger and Sleepy creek. Not sure what to go with or if there are other brands that are better. Looking for minimal modification. Any advice would be appreciated.

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I use Sleepy's

Sleepy Creek have not let me down over the time i have had them.

Really not much choice. Bridger and Duke only offer select sizes. I've got a few dozen Sleepy Creek on order. They're expensive, but buy once cry once.

I've had no problem with Sleepy Creek,great coyote trap

Out of currently in production longspring traps I have only used the Bridger #4 enough to form a solid opinion. The Bridger #4 is one heck of a good trap. So good that another 3 dozen are on my shopping list. Also so good that I wish that Bridger would produce scaled down versions in #2 and #3 sizes. I would buy a pile.

Like others have said, my Sleepy Creeks have performed very well. But I've heard very good things about the the Bridger #4 and hope to test them out in the near future.

Actually, the long spring I really what to give a whirl is Sleepy Creek's 4 1/2. I'm guessing that breaking those beasts over my knee like my 3s wouldn't work too well.

To the op, what purpose do you want them to fill? I've got a bunch of victor 4's for beaver, but they don't have adjustable tension. My SC's are for land sets.

Im looking to add a few traps to my collection, I do all land trapping, mostly coyote and raccoon.

If that's the case, SC are hard to beat. I'm going to try out some 3's this season with expand-a-pans to see how that combination works out. Only thing I don't like about them is that I need a setter, but that's not as big a deal on land traps as it is on water.

eastwood, Sleepy Creek recommends using their setter to initially break-in the springs over the base, but after initial break-in you really don't need them for the 3s. I've been setting their 3s just fine by hand without the setter. Because I use their setter for 330s, it wasn't an additional expense for me.

I don't remember exactly what the issue was, but some people had problems setting them right out of the box without breaking them in first. I'm sure someone will chime in and provide the details.

Maybe I'm just weak, but I can't hand set any of theirs above a 2.

You're not weak. It's all technique - leverage. If I can set them you can. Here are a couple of good videos showing the technique.

starts at 2:05 https://youtu.be/FOgRXBF5q6U

starts at 1:45 https://youtu.be/ZHboJifkrTc

I use the #4 Bridgers on land and in the water. Coyote, cats, otter, and front feet on beaver. Plus they aren't center swiveled so it doesn't feel like a ball peen to the leg when you are setting them. I have played with some Sleepy Creeks as well as other center swiveled longsprings and I am not a fan of the center swivel on longsprings. Makes my setting technique very painful.

That's the technique I use, but I can't get it to work with a SC over size 2. I can set a victor or B&L 4 over my knee, but can't wrangle the SC.

Okay, so something's not right with the traps obviously. If I remember correctly, some people were having problems with the base plates deforming slightly when trying to set the 3s and 4s normally - breaking over the knee/thigh. Once the base plate had deformed, the only way to set them was with their setters.

SCM came out with a "solution" that recommended breaking them in with their setters several times before attempting to use the normal setting technique, or just use the setters all the time. I did the former and haven't had any problems setting my 3s since. There was a thread on all of this several years ago but I can't find it.

Anyway, sorry I wasn't much help.

Tried it again last night with some old 4's, and it worked fine. Guess my new ones are still too new.

Love the sleepy creeks!

I'd get Duke, Victor, or Bridger. If they don't have strong springs buy some auxiliary springs for it.