I own 8 sleepy creek #11 traps. What #11 trap should I buy now that sleepy creek #11 can not be purchased. Bridger or duke?

There’s Sleepy Creeks out there to be bought used.

I'd go with Duke DJs myself.

Bridger #11s and Duke #11s are the only two left to choose from.

Unless Duke changed their #11s recently, I would steer clear of those. Mine were real flimsy (and I like most of the Duke Line). If I recall correctly, (and it's been some time now), the Bridgers were far better than the Dukes. I'm guessing someone will have compared more recently then I.

If you are an ebay guy, there are some on there.

River Rat Trapping Supplies has a lot on new old stock SC traps still available.

There is still new old stock out there. I LOVE the SC #11 and got 3 dozen in the box a year or so ago.

Duke 11 reg jaw OK double jaw is a waste of money.

After thinking about it you are probably right. Not much room under the jaws on any of the 11s.

But if it held just a couple extra coons over it's lifetime the extra couple bucks are made back plus some.

Everyone wants the DJ Sleepy Creek too.

IMO good used B&L and Victors are just fine traps as well, and they don't have the cult following the SC have so you can get them at more reasonable prices.

Thank you.

Looking at the few I just got LS that is they look very simple to make. Getting the right spring steel material, bend angle I think would be the hard part.

O I long for the time I have time to play.

Should preface what follows by saying I don't own nearly as many traps as most guys on here, but what I do have is a large variety of traps. In terms of #11's, that variety recently went up to at least 6 different makes. SC.....two types, Northwoods......two types, current new Bridger, older B&L, Montgomery and an old Triumph that was found in a relative's stash. Had some Dukes but donated them. Strong springs, weak frames, weak jaws. Not for me.

SC....both old and new stand head and shoulders above the rest. Really no faults and ready to go out of the box. Next in line is the Montgomery. All the rest have some type of flaw or fault that either makes them inferior or requires mods before use.

So recent buy included seven Northwoods. Two types. Old style with floppy pan and smaller springs. New style pan with tension adjustment, wider (stronger?) springs. Three could be used as is, but as came to me, was missing usable chains. The others were either defective from the factory or somebody in chain of custody upstream from me did some ill advised modifications.

For most of these the springs have a kink in them, just outside the top ring at jaws;



One of these traps was never used. The other some use, but with bent spring is now messed up......at both ends. The kink in the spring forces jaws to close out of alignment........it also reduces strength of the spring by less than half. Holding power way off.





This trap now has mixed springs.......old and new.

Another has jaws sprung out of alignment. Either built that way or a caught animal did it. There may be a lot of subtle features some traps have that others don't. A spring steel temper on the jaws maybe?

And lastly, a modern era Bridger vs. SC. Note shape of jaws and where the springs stop. SC are known for their holding power and shape and position of springs high up on closed jaws may be a big part of it. Will Bridger do the same? Lastly, because the SC are center swiveled with extra base plate, frames are square and stay that way. Frames on the Northwoods are mostly bent.....bowed upwards.



My conclusion is for a guy who only wants a few of these, holding out for SC remains your best option. Most of the others are going to have problems, need help, or both.

Northwoods longsprings often had that little bend in the spring. ..not sure why.

Yep, NW bend is common

I believe the purpose for the bend in the spring was that one spring could be positioned up and the other one down? Try it HayDay...let us know how it works

Yes, they are out there if a person wants to pay the price. I know a guy that has at least 5 dozen, new in the box Sleepy Creek, double jaw, square pan #11's. He's asking a $150 a dozen for them though. Nice traps, but I'd have a hard time paying that for them now, after knowing what I used to pay for the same traps.

Wasn't sure what was meant by one up and one down, but set one again with an eye on what happened to the bent eye when set. What happened was when springs were rotated towards the dog as is normally the case, both bends came into alignment with jaws and rotated to a level position. What that did was place even pressure on both jaws. The SC set the same way, the jaw opposite the dog had nearly 1/16 inch gap between the spring eye and jaws. So that explains the bend? Good to know, cause as that was set, trap fired pretty hot. Opinion of those just went up. Will now beef up the chains, get em painted and put them into use to see how they hold up.

Northwoods top, SC bottom.