A. The metal pieces attached to the ends of the wire are called Gripple wire joiner. A Gripple wire joiner is a device used to join, splice and tension wire as well as terminate wires. They are manufactured in Sheffield, England by Gripple Ltd. The name derives from the fact the device both "grips" and "pulls" wire. Bekaert pre-installs their wire joiners on select fence products including Solidlock® Pro Fixed Knot, Solidlock® Fixed Knot, Gaucho® Pro Field Fence, and Gaucho® Field Fence.
If you look at the Gripple joiner, there are two holes on each end. The wire goes into the hole without the blue piece. Push it through the hole. The wire that you are splicing to then goes into the other hole. Push both wires through the holes until the knots meet. This completes the splice. You will need to cut the Gripples off of the first roll when you start your fence. Simply cut the wire and pull the small piece through the Gripple. Save these for future splices and repairs. Then you can tie off the end.
The blue plastic piece with the wire is a Gripple release tool. If you look at the end of the Gripple, you will see a tiny hole. The wire goes into this hole and releases the Gripple. Again, save this for future splicing and repairs.
In addition to pre-installed Gripples, Bekaert also offers other Gripple fence solutions and accessories to assist in your fence installation. For more information on Gripple products refer to the Bekaert Fencing System Gripple brochure.
In the video below #TheFencePros demonstrate the how to join two fixed knot fence rolls to each other using a Gripple Medium Plus joiner. Still need help with your fence installation? In addition to our videos, we have a knowledge library that contains detailed brace installation guides. Still have questions? Ask #TheFencePros!