Heavy duty #1 longsprings

Just curious- Who makes the best, heavy duty, #1 longspring? I don’t care if it’s a manufacturer that isn’t made anymore, or one that is currently in production. Someone has to be a #1 longspring guru on here!

Original Blake and Lamb. Way stouter than newer 're branded' traps that use the name.



Charlie

THIS !!! find some circa 1970's-1980's.
It had to do with the superior geometry in the bend in the long spring, the B&L was a "U" shaped bend, whereas the Victors had a "V" shaped bend. All of the B&L long-springs were like this. I really liked the #4's for beaver trapping; much better than the Victor.

Old newhouse if you can find any.

Good to know!!!! Thanks for this info. Any other recommendations for current production? I’m going to be on a search for these older B&L’s when I finish this post. I’m looking at getting these as a gift for a buddy in Idaho that has been helping me, so would like new traps, but now I know what to look for in older stuff if there’s nothing new that is equal to them.

I suppose the same goes for #1.5 longsprings too? Original B&L there also?

Agree on the Blake and lambs. I added booster springs one year to a. Bunch of Vic #1s and moved the chain to end opposite the spring and added swivels. Held a lot of coon in those. The Blake and lamb didn’t need a booster spring.
Jim

I agree with B&L. You may want to see if Wissmiss has any. She is in Idaho so shipping would be cheap to get them to your buddy.

B and L with the u shaped spring! They hold like a vise. Great coon trap. You can make older Victors about the same if you add an auxiliary lightening spring.

One thing I noticed about the old B&Ls are if you dont have the spring hole the whole way down when pulling the jaws apart to set- they would bend pretty easily at the jaw tips. That seemed to be a weak point with them. I dont see how they were more heavy duty than any other trap of the era. Go with Newhouse, or at least a cast jaw trap.

If you are asking about over all construction. The original North Woods were very heavily constructed. As a user trap I consider them superior even to a Newhouse. Heavy construction, thick jaw material, strong triumph style springs, Post pan with bolt and good chain. Still not terribly difficult to find.

And Ric those old north woods some had adjustable pans…well ahead of their time.

X2! I have some 1 1/2 Northwoods and they are built like a tank.

I forgot about Northwoods. I never had any longsprings of theirs, but if anything like the coils, they have to be good.

I don’t know about the #1 but Sleepy Creek #11 are really good traps.

Any contact info by chance? Or is there another site to keep an eye on for older traps like this?

THIS is what I wanted, just didn't know how to say it in my original post. I want something "built like a tank". I'll keep looking for those blake and lambs that were mentioned earlier, but I know this Northwoods is the type of trap my buddy would want, and it's also good news to hear they aren't to terribly hard to find. Now to find some....

Suggestions??

Rocky Mountain Fur in Caldwell has alot of older traps they sell.

Those older ones with the round pan are awesome.

As far as the Northwoods, I searched for quite a while to get some. They're out there but most want to hang on to them.

You can contact Wissmiss on the forum. Use the user list, 'w'

Put a wtb post on the trap shed. Has always worked for me.

Thanks! Will do. Didn’t know if that was allowed,

Still been doing some research on finding some heavy duty #1 longsprings, or even some #1.5 longsprings. Came across some reviews of the Sleepy Creek traps. Apparently they were recently bought out, and now back to making traps. Are these "built like a tank" like was mentioned with the North Woods longsprings?

Thanks for all the help. Ya'll have been great.

The guy that trapped the Otters for Mo's re stocking prgram used SC #11'S, he reported very few losses, and ZERO foot damage was a requirement.

Finding them isn't nearly as hard as getting the owners to part with them! LOL