Razor wire
Steel tape stamped with blades and wound into coils, fixed along the top of a fence. A deterrent topping rather than a barrier in its own right.
Also called: razor tape, concertina wire, barbed tape
Razor wire is barbed tape: a steel strip stamped into a row of blades and crimped around a core wire. Despite the name it is not razor sharp and was never meant to be — the blades are shaped to catch and hold clothing and skin, which is what makes working through it so slow.
That slowness is the whole product. Barbed wire can be crossed in under a minute by someone with gloves; razor wire cannot be crossed quickly without tools, and the attempt does enough damage that most people decide against it on sight. The deterrent effect does more work than the wire itself ever has to.
The formats
- Concertina — a compressed coil stretched along the fence top, stocked in 450mm and 630mm diameters on 10m rolls. The default, and the strongest.
- Flat razor wire — sits in the plane of the fence with no overhang, in 500mm and 700mm widths. For boundaries with a footpath alongside.
- Barbed tape — the same blade profile flat on a 100m roll, run in strands like barbed wire. The middle option.
Where it belongs
Secure compounds, depots, substations, plant yards — boundaries with real value behind them and no public access alongside. Not schools, parks, street frontage or low walls: an occupier owes a duty of care even to trespassers under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984, and razor wire within reach is where claims come from. Fit it at 2.4m or above, sign the run, and use rotating spikes where the boundary is public-facing.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is razor wire legal in the UK?
Yes — there is no law banning it and no licence needed to buy or fit it. The constraint is where you put it: under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1984 an occupier owes a duty of care even to trespassers, so razor wire within public reach creates real exposure.
- How high should razor wire be mounted?
At least 2.4m above ground level, checked from both sides of the boundary, with warning signage along the run. Neither is a statutory requirement, but both are the benchmark for whether an occupier took reasonable care.