High tensile or medium tensile wire? Read grade and diameter separately

Build a four-part description

Tensile strength describes how much pulling stress the wire material resists before breaking. A higher tensile grade can support more force at the same wire cross-section; diameter still changes how much steel is carrying that force. Medium tensile is a different grade, not simply thinner high tensile. Check the documented breaking load and recommended working tension separately—neither the HT/MT label nor a breaking-load figure tells you how tightly to install a fence. Bekaert explains the strength distinction; its product examples are not Outback installation settings.

1. DiameterFor example 2.50mm, when specified
2. Tensile gradeHT, MT or the documented grade
3. CoatingThe actual protective specification
4. Use and lengthMesh component / plain wire / roll length

For Outback hinged joint, the confirmed specification is 2.50mm throughout: high-tensile horizontal wires and medium-tensile vertical wires, with 260g/m² galvanised coating. That is a useful example of why one diameter does not mean every component has the same grade. It does not describe every other Outback wire or mesh construction.

Do not let one label stand in for the whole specification

When repairing, identify the old wire first

Keep the original label or a photo of it if possible. Record whether you are replacing a strand of plain wire, a line within prefabricated mesh or another component. A visually similar loose strand does not automatically reproduce the behaviour of the original mesh.

The wire, joins, clamps and tensioning method need to be compatible. If the old product cannot be identified, provide the installer or supplier with photos and the best available records. Do not assume an unidentified wire is safe to tension to a familiar setting.

Make the purchase description unambiguous

Bekaert’s technical discussion treats wire properties and coating as separate considerations. Use that distinction to ask better questions; a mill name in general reading is not evidence that a particular Outback batch came from that mill.