Electric Fence Material Conductivity The Importance of Conductivity to an Electric Fence

There is only one thing to be considered when looking at tapes, rope or twine to use on an Electric Fence:-
The Conductivity (the ability to carry electricity) of the material.

An Elephant or horse will not be fenced in by plain rope or tape but apply an electric current and they are easily contained.

The quality of the Electric "sting" delivered to the target is directly dependant on the quality of the conducting material. This is the "barb" that will keep your target animal where you want him. The conductivity of the material is quoted as Ohms per metre or Ω/m. (this is a measure of the inline resistance). The higher this figure is - the less of the current that is delivered to that important sting. The lower the Ohms/metre is, the more electricity it will carry and deliver an effective sting. For example:- An energiser capable of energizing 9klm with a 0.05 Ω/m. conductor will be reduced to just 1.3klm if you use a conductor of over 10 Ω/m.
Conversley, when an energiser is used to charge 1.3 klm of fence using a good conductor it will use far less energy than using a poor conductor;- your batteries will last far longer.

Generally the conductivity is reflected in the price of the product. There are plenty of un-declared products on the market - make sure you know what you are buying. Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. Copper or Aluminium is by far the best conductor, but generally more expensive. This may be off-set by having more steel conductors but it is important to compare conductivity (however it is delivered) to get the best return per pound spent. A tape with 6-8 conductors may not be as economical as one with 3-5.  As a general rule, a product with only steel conductors is normally of a lower conductive quality, normally reflected in the price.

The strength of the conductive material is supplied by the plastic strands, not by the thin stainless steel or copper filaments. Rope is stronger than tape as the strands are closely wound and so combine their strength better than tape.
Life of the conductor is determined by wind action and Ultra Violet rays from sunlight breaking down the polyplastic material. Tape has a greater surface area exposed to sunlight and is more affected by wind action. Because of these two constraints the life of tapes may be substantially shorter than rope. The only advantage tape has over rope is it's visibility. Many of our conductors carry extended warranty against UV damage.

An indication as to the conductive quality is as follows:-

Range		Product	Cost per meter.
Less than 0.1 Ohms/m	Excellent. May be used in any situation. Long fences	hotStop Wire	£0.04	Using a 1 Joule energizer. 20-40 klm
		High Tensile Wire	£0.05
		Stranded Pig Wire	£0.036
0.1 - 0.4 Ohms/m	Excellent. May be used in most situations. Long fences	hotStop Rope	£0.09	15 - 25 klm
		Green Power Rope	£0.11
		Turbomax Tape 20mm	£0.11
		Turbomax 40mm	£0.19
		hotStop Twine TW3	£0.049
		Turbomax Twines	£0.071
0.4 - 0.75 Ohms/m	Very good. May be used in many situations. Large Horse yards	Ranger Tape 20mm	£0.096	8 - 18 klm.
		Ranger Tape 40mm	£0.155
		Green Powerline 20mm	£0.11
		Green Powerline 40mm	£0.161
		Green PowerTwine	£0.058
		Farmer Twine W9	£0.044
0.75 - 3.0 Ohms/m	Good, Horse Yards and Medium fences	EquiStop Tape 20mm	£0.173	5-8 klm
		EquiStop Tape 40mm	£0.243
		Ranger Tape 40mm	£0.155
3.0 - 10 Ohms/m	Acceptable. Smaller Horse Yards and Medium fences	Farmer Tape 40mm	£0.075	2.5 to 5 klm
		Ranger Tape 20mm	£0.096
		Ranger Rope	£0.078
		Farmer Green 40mm	£0.082
		Farmer Twine W6	£0.049
10 - 15 Ohms/m	Poor, Short fences only	Farmer Green 20mm	£0.056	Upto 2 klm
		Farmer Tape 20mm	£0.056
		Double-Packs	£0.038
		Farmer Twine W3	£0.043
Over 15 Ohms/m	Don't Bother	-	-	-

N.B. Whilst every effort is made to maintain this table, prices shown in the principle description prevail.