6 Durable Fence Clips For Wire Fencing That Old Farmers Swear By

You can spend a week setting posts, stretching wire until it hums, and admiring a perfectly straight fence line. But if you secure it all with flimsy, cheap clips, you’ve just built a temporary suggestion, not a permanent barrier. I’ve seen more fences fail from a rusted-out clip than a broken post, and it always happens during a storm or right before you leave for vacation. Your fence is only as strong as its weakest link, and more often than not, that link is the tiny piece of metal or plastic holding the wire.

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Why Solid Fence Clips Are Non-Negotiable

A fence clip is the point of contact between your wire and your post. It’s where all the force—from tension, from a leaning animal, from heavy snow—gets transferred. When you choose a cheap, undersized, or poorly coated clip, you’re creating a failure point that will eventually give. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

Think of it this way: a single failed clip on a T-post can cause a whole section of woven wire to sag. If a few let go, you’ll have a gap big enough for a goat to squeeze through or a predator to sneak in. The ten cents you saved per clip suddenly costs you hours of chasing livestock and patching up the line, not to mention the potential loss of an animal or a garden bed.

This is especially true for us hobby farmers who can’t afford to re-fence every few years. We need our infrastructure to be reliable. Durable, properly gauged clips are your cheapest insurance policy against fence failure. They resist rust, withstand UV degradation, and handle the strain of a properly tensioned fence, season after season. Don’t let a handful of bad clips undermine hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours of hard work.

Red Brand T-Post Clips: A Time-Tested Classic

When you think of a standard T-post clip, you’re probably picturing a Red Brand clip or one just like it. They are the definition of simple, effective design. It’s just a pre-formed piece of heavy-gauge galvanized wire designed to wrap around the post and lock the fence wire securely into the T-post’s studs.

There’s no fancy mechanism here, and that’s their strength. They are incredibly strong and, once installed correctly, they hold with bulldog tenacity. You’ll need a good pair of pliers or a dedicated clip-bending tool to twist them on tight, but that effort is what gives them their holding power. They won’t pop off when a deer brushes against the fence.

The tradeoff is time and effort. Fencing a long line with these will leave your hands sore, and it’s slower than some modern alternatives. But for sheer reliability and cost-effectiveness, they are the gold standard. For a permanent perimeter fence that you don’t want to think about for a decade, these are a proven choice.

Bekaert Bracefast: For Secure Corner Bracing

Your corner and end assemblies are the anchors of your entire fence system. These H-braces handle immense tension, and a standard clip won’t do anything here. Traditionally, securing the brace rail between two wood posts involved time-consuming notching or drilling, which can also create spots for water to sit and rot the wood.

The Bekaert Bracefast is a specialized piece of hardware that solves this problem brilliantly. It’s not a wire clip, but a heavy-duty metal bracket that secures your horizontal brace post to your upright posts. You simply hammer the spiked plates into the posts and wrap the included tensioning wire. It creates an incredibly strong, rigid corner without any complex joinery.

For a hobby farmer, this is a massive time-saver that also improves the structural integrity of your fence. You get a perfect, rock-solid brace every time, which is the foundation for keeping your fence wires tight. While it’s a niche product, for the most critical part of your fence build, it’s an innovation that old-timers and new farmers alike can appreciate.

Gripple T-Clip: Fast, Tool-Free Wire Joining

Sometimes, speed is the most important factor. If you’re putting up temporary pasture, making a quick repair, or just value your time over a few extra dollars, the Gripple T-Clip is a fantastic piece of modern engineering. It’s a one-piece nylon clip that completely changes the installation game.

Instead of fumbling with pliers and twisting wire, you simply push the Gripple T-Clip onto the T-post, lay your wire in the channel, and snap the locking gate shut. That’s it. You can install them as fast as you can walk the fence line. They are surprisingly strong and ideal for high-tensile smooth wire or electric fencing applications.

The downside is cost. Gripples are significantly more expensive per unit than a simple wire clip. For a quarter-mile of fencing, that cost adds up fast. But for patching a broken line in a hurry or for rotational grazing setups that you move frequently, their convenience is unmatched. They represent a classic tradeoff: you’re paying more money to save a lot of time and hassle.

Zareba U-Clips for Wood Post Applications

Not every post on the farm is a steel T-post. Your corners, ends, and gate posts are likely solid wood, and they require a different kind of fastener. The humble U-clip, or fence staple, is the go-to choice here. It’s a simple, U-shaped staple made of heavy-gauge galvanized wire that you hammer into the post over your fence wire.

The most common mistake people make is hammering the staple in too tight. You want to drive it in so it’s secure, but leave a small gap—just enough for the wire to slide freely. This is crucial because wire expands and contracts with temperature changes. A staple that’s too tight will bind the wire, putting immense stress on the staple and the post when the wire contracts in the cold.

Always buy high-quality, double-barbed, Class 3 galvanized staples. The galvanization prevents rust, which will not only weaken the staple but also leach into the wood post and accelerate rot. The barbs give it extra holding power, ensuring it doesn’t pull out under tension. It’s a simple piece of hardware, but using it correctly makes all the difference.

Dare Poly-T Post Clips for Electric Fencing

When you’re running electric fence on T-posts, a metal clip is your worst enemy. Any metal-to-wire contact will ground out your fence, rendering your energizer useless. This is where plastic insulators come in, and the snap-on T-post clip is the most common type. Dare is a brand that has been making these for ages, and their quality is consistent.

These clips are typically made of UV-stabilized polyethylene or polypropylene. They are designed to snap securely onto the T-post and hold the polywire, tape, or high-tensile wire away from the conductive metal post. Good ones will have a secure locking tab to prevent the wire from popping out if an animal challenges the fence.

The key feature to look for is UV-stabilization. Cheap, non-stabilized plastic insulators will become brittle from sun exposure in just a season or two. They’ll crack in the cold or snap when you’re checking the fence line. Spending a little extra on quality, name-brand insulators means you won’t be walking the fence every spring replacing dozens of broken clips.

Speedrite Claw Insulator: For High-Strain Jobs

Your standard snap-on plastic insulators are great for line posts, but they will fail at corners, ends, or any point where the wire is under high tension. The pulling force will warp the plastic or snap the clip right off the post. For these high-strain points in an electric fence, you need a heavy-duty solution like a claw insulator.

The Speedrite Claw Insulator is a perfect example. It’s a robust, heavy-duty insulator that bolts directly onto a T-post or wood post. The design features a deep, shielded "claw" that holds the wire securely, preventing it from abrading and ensuring it can’t be pulled free from the immense forces at a corner. The plastic is thick and designed to handle thousands of pounds of strain without failing.

Using these at every corner and end post is non-negotiable for a permanent high-tensile electric fence. While they are more expensive and take longer to install than a simple clip, they provide a rock-solid anchor point for your electrified wires. This is another case of using the right, specialized tool for the most critical job on the fence line.

Matching Clip Gauge to Your Fencing Wire

This is a simple concept that gets overlooked far too often. The clip you use must be as strong as, or stronger than, the wire it’s holding. The strength of wire and clips is measured in gauge, where a lower number indicates a thicker, stronger wire.

If you’ve invested in heavy 12.5-gauge woven wire for containing cattle, using a flimsy 14-gauge T-post clip is asking for trouble. The first time a cow leans on that fence, the clip will stretch or snap long before the wire is in any danger of breaking. You’ve essentially downgraded your entire fence to the strength of its weakest component.

As a rule of thumb, the gauge of your clip should match or be lower than the gauge of your fence wire. For standard 12.5-gauge high-tensile or field fence, use 12.5-gauge or even 11-gauge clips. This ensures that the clip can handle the same load as the wire itself, maintaining the integrity of your entire fence system. It’s a small detail that makes a huge difference in long-term durability.

Ultimately, the fence clips you choose are a direct reflection of how much you value your time. A cheap clip might save you twenty dollars today, but it will cost you a full weekend of work next year. By choosing the right clip for the job—whether it’s a classic wire tie, a modern speed clip, or a heavy-duty insulator—you’re not just building a fence. You’re buying peace of mind.