Products + Tools

By Ryan Crawley, marketing executive at Hafren Fasteners Ltd

You have standard fasteners that are of course very useful for fixing things, but they are vulnerable to attack, theft, vandalism and unauthorised tampering. So, when you need to secure something valuable or commercially sensitive you need to look at a solution that can resist the efforts of criminals.

That’s where security fasteners come in. Security fasteners are specialist vandal/tamper resistant fixings and fasteners that have a varied range of uses but are primarily used to protect infrastructure/property from theft, vandalism and tampering. For over 25 years Hafren has developed a wide range of security fasteners with the objective of stamping out the impact of theft globally.

At Hafren we live and breathe security fasteners, in fact we only deal in security fasteners and are therefore constantly working to improve our offering through R&D – striving to achieve a range of security fasteners that can help protect and secure every application.

With that objective in mind we have created a 1 – 5 security fastener rating scale to help customers specify the most suitable fastener for the application. This in turn got us thinking about what is the best; ‘top of the trumps’ security fastener available? To do this we looked at the following comparative headings:

• Security rating – shows how resistant to the fastener is to attack.
• Range size (from stock) – demonstrates the versatility and availability of the range (the more options there are available the more useable the fastener).
• Corrosion resistance – level 1 = basic zinc plated, level 2 = thick zinc plated, level 3 = galvanised (including Geomet® 500 B & Delta Protekt®), level 4 = A2 stainless steel and level 5 = A4 stainless steel.
• Torque level – indicates how tightly the fastener can be fastened.
• Innovation – indicates how unique the design is (many of the innovative designs we offer are proprietary and only available from approved Hafren distributors).
• Style – because security isn’t the only reason to buy our fasteners.

The novel designs add an aesthetically pleasing finish to many applications. At the top of the security rating are products such as the Solok™ 2-way security drive, which ensures that each and every customer has their own unique ‘one-of-a-kind’ drive, which will only work to undo/tighten their exclusive fasteners ‘coded’ to the same drive. Manufactured to order in steel or stainless steel, the Solok offers each customer their own ‘strictly authorised access only’, lockable and unlockable security system making them very popular in high security sectors such as the custodial/prison sector.

Another example of a high security fastener is the Nogo™ enclosure, this is a 1-way permanent fixing, once installed it is extremely difficult to remove. This enclosure can be used to turn any standard nut or bolt assembly into a permanent high security enclosure. Available as solid cap for bolts, or with through hole for nuts, which may have threads standing higher than the nut.

At the mid-level security range is the innovative Power6™ thread forming screw; although this screw has a 6-Lobe Pin design the geometry of the drive is slightly different making Power6 incompatible with standard 6-Lobe Pin tooling. The fact this drive can only be fastened/removed with the matching Power6 tooling (which is only available through Hafren approved distributors) helps to enhance this fastener’s security rating. With a corrosion resistant Geomet® 500 B finish it is ideal for external applications, such as high security fencing.

At entry level security, there is the 6-Lobe Pin security drive. These high torque security fasteners are a very popular product and with a wide range of styles (including machine screws, self-tappers, self-drillers, barrel nuts and anchors); to choose from, it makes this drive an extremely versatile security option, enabling almost unlimited assembly possibilities to secure and protect property from theft, vandalism and unauthorised tampering.

So whether you are looking for the highest security available or a wide range (available from stock) and versatility to match, Hafren has a security solution for you. Take our short survey and nominate your favourite security drive, and we will let you know your choice for the ‘top trumps’ security fastener in the next issue of Fastener + Fixing Magazine.

www.hafrenfasteners.com