I have tightened and repaired sections of a lot of old barb wire fence using Gripples and their tensioner. Much easier and faster than older methods. The barb wire Gripple is good for joining broken sections of barb in a way that doesn't stretch or loosen.

When I need to tighten a sagging run I will use 2 Gripples to put a short section of 11 Ga smooth wire in the middle of the run so I can pull it tight in both directions with the Gripple tensioner. And you can always go back and retighten it easily with their tensioner tool if needed.

If the posts etc are weak I run a 14 ga steel smooth hot wire on Premier long standoffs around the inside to keep cattle from pushing on it.

Jim