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Concertina wire
 
 
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Concertina wire is a type of barbed wire
Barbed wire

Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand....
 or razor wire
Razor wire

Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The name "Razor Wire" is a registered trademark of Allied Tube & Conduit Company, although through long usage the term is generally used to describe the barbed tape products of other manufacturers ....
 that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina
Concertina

A concertina is a Free-reed instrument musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it....
.






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Concertina Wire
Us Soldiers Laying Concertina Wire
Concertina wire is a type of barbed wire
Barbed wire

Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand....
 or razor wire
Razor wire

Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The name "Razor Wire" is a registered trademark of Allied Tube & Conduit Company, although through long usage the term is generally used to describe the barbed tape products of other manufacturers ....
 that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina
Concertina

A concertina is a Free-reed instrument musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it....
. Each coil actually consists of two oppositely wound helices
Helix

A helix is a special kind of space curve, i.e. a Differentiable manifold curve in three-space. As a mental image of a helix one may take the spring ....
 which support each other against crushing while allowing easy longitudinal movement. In conjunction with plain barbed wire and steel picket
Picket

Picket may refer to:* Anchor * Picket , a piece in fairy chess* Picket * Picket fence* Picketing * Picquet* Screw picket*Picket line, to tether horses...
s, it is used to form military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 wire obstacle
Wire obstacle

In the military science of fortification, wire obstacles are defensive obstacles made from barbed wire, barbed tape or concertina wire. They are designed to disrupt, delay and generally slow down an attacking enemy....
s. During World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 soldiers manufactured concertina wire themselves, using ordinary barbed wire. Today it is factory made.

Concertina wire packs flat for ease of transport, but can then be deployed as an obstacle much more quickly than ordinary barbed wire.

A platoon
Platoon

A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four Section or squads and containing about 30 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organised into a company , which typically consists of three, four or five platoons....
 of soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
s can deploy a single concertina fence at a rate of about a kilometer per hour
Hour

The hour is a unit of time. It is not an SI unit but is Non-SI units accepted for use with SI....
. Such an obstacle is not very effective by itself, and concertinas are normally built up into more elaborate patterns as time permits.

Concertina wire is sometimes mistakenly called constantine wire. "Constantine" probably came from a corruption/misunderstanding of "Concertina" and led to confusion with the Roman Emperor Constantine. This in turn has led to some people trying to differentiate between concertina wire and "constantine" wire by incorrectly assigning the latter term to what is commonly known as razor wire
Razor wire

Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The name "Razor Wire" is a registered trademark of Allied Tube & Conduit Company, although through long usage the term is generally used to describe the barbed tape products of other manufacturers ....
. In contrast to the double-helical construction of concertina wire, as shown being deployed by soldiers in the image, razor wire, or less correctly "constantine wire", consists of a single coil of wire with projecting teeth periodically along its length.