Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

What security chain for a garden gate

Updated: October 2026

You are measuring a side gate and asking what security chain for a garden gate will hold the leaf shut. On amazon.co.uk that word sits on a 3 mm carabiner chain, a 4 mm chain with a padlock, and a thicker hardened chain whose UK reviews are about bikes. The four listings in our [grating security chain comparison](/hub/door-and-window-security/grating-security-chain) cost about £6.99 to about £14.99 on 19 October 2026, and none prints a Sold Secure or BS EN 12320 grade. Decide the job, the shut loop, then whether a real lock is in the box. Peter F. read those listings. There was no lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are measuring a side gate and asking what security chain for a garden gate will hold the leaf shut.

Our top picks

Yarlung Yarlung 2 ft hardened chain

Best overall

Yarlung Yarlung 2 ft hardened chain
9.2/10about £14.99
View offer
Maxmoc Maxmoc gate chain, 2 pack

Rank 2

Maxmoc Maxmoc gate chain, 2 pack
9.2/10about £6.99
View offer
Sterling Sterling 60 cm chain and padlock

Rank 3

Sterling Sterling 60 cm chain and padlock
8.8/10about £7.03
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Start with the job and the loop
  2. 2.A lock in the box is not a carabiner
  3. 3.Thickness and grades, without inventing a test
  4. 4.Weather, colour and a faulty lock

Start with the job and the loop

A chain that stops a dog nudging a gate is a different buy from one meant to slow someone in a side passage. ProtectUK asks for a close-shackle padlock where the gate is part of the security boundary. A set around £7 can hold a leaf against wind. Calling it heavy duty does not make it that boundary. Measure with the gate closed. These listings sit at about 50 cm, 51 cm, 60 cm and 61 cm. Spare chain becomes slack, and slack lets two leaves be pushed apart. Signet Locks says a double-gate chain has to be too short for the leaves to open a gap. The loop itself is in how to lock a garden gate with a chain. If the post moves, start with the garden gate chain lock page.

A lock in the box is not a carabiner

A carabiner is a spring clip anyone at the gate can open. That is a latch, not a lock. Sterling is the chain-and-padlock with the largest UK review count, and buyers there talk about gates: about £7.03, 4.4 from 158, 60 cm stated at 4 mm, and an aluminium padlock. The bullets say 30 mm and the item-type line says 48 mm. Reviewers report a colour that does not match the photograph. Yarlung is about 61 cm and 3/8 inch (about 9.5 mm), about £14.99, with a hardened-steel claim and no padlock. The UK reviews are about bikes. Maxmoc is two electroplated chains of about 50 cm at about £6.99, closed with carabiners, with rust reported within a week. ODDerZZii is about 51 cm and 3 mm at about £7.99, and reviewers describe a plastic lock, one broken and one with no key. Sterling is the starting row because the keyed lock is in the box. The limits are on the best gate chain and padlock page.
Yarlung Yarlung 2 ft hardened chain

Testsieger

Yarlung Yarlung 2 ft hardened chain
9.2/10about £14.99
View offer

Thickness and grades, without inventing a test

Insight Security’s own guide treats chain under 8 mm that is not hardened as a token line, and it associates a medium line up to 10 mm with gates. That is a shop guide, not a British Standard, and it was not a test of these listings. The Collections Trust briefing treats about 10 mm of chain as where security value starts. A chain beside a graded padlock does not inherit that grade. BS EN 12320 grades padlocks. Sold Secure SS307 covers general-application chain. None of these four prints SS307, Sold Secure Gold or a BS EN 12320 grade. Sterling at 4 mm and ODDerZZii at 3 mm sit in the thin band. Yarlung’s 3/8 inch claim is nearer 10 mm, and it is still ungraded, with no lock. A 10 mm set a UK lock shop lists around £75 to £90 is another shelf.

Weather, colour and a faulty lock

Hot-dip galvanising is the outdoor zinc coat merchants treat as the longer-lived one. Thin electroplate fails sooner. Maxmoc is described as electroplated, and one UK review reports rust within a week. A plastic sleeve stops scratches. On Sterling it can also stiffen the chain. 304 is general outdoor stainless. 316 is the grade for salt air. Judge ODDerZZii’s 304 chain claim apart from the plastic lock body reviewers describe. Yarlung claims zinc and a nylon sleeve, and the file has no UK rust review. Silence is not a weathering test. A wrong colour, a cracked body or a missing key is a fault under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It is not a new security grade.

Common questions

What thickness should a garden-gate chain be?
For a light latch, the sets here state 3 mm or 4 mm. Trade guides treat chain under 8 mm that is not hardened as a token. A Collections Trust briefing puts security value nearer 10 mm of welded chain, as guidance rather than a British Standard. Yarlung states 3/8 inch, about 9.5 mm, and claims hardened steel, with no Sold Secure grade printed. Read a grade only if it is on the listing.
Does the chain include a padlock?
Sterling includes an aluminium padlock, with 30 mm in the bullets and 48 mm on the item-type line. ODDerZZii includes a small keyed lock alongside carabiners. Yarlung includes no lock. Maxmoc closes with carabiners only. A padlock in the box still has to pass the end link, and a carabiner still opens without a key.
Is 60 cm long enough?
It is long enough when the gate is shut and the two points you are joining leave a close loop inside 60 cm. A 100 mm post plus a stile can use most of that length. Yarlung, at about 61 cm, drew reviews saying it was too short unless the anchors were touching. Maxmoc at about 50 cm and ODDerZZii at about 51 cm reach still less. Measure the shut gate before you choose.
What does Sold Secure Gold mean on a chain?
Sold Secure SS307 is a grade for general-application chain, and Sold Secure Gold is a rating that maker or retailer pages sometimes state. None of the four listings here prints it. A lock-shop page for a 10 mm set may say Sold Secure Gold. That wording was not re-checked on the Sold Secure database for this comparison, and that set is not one of these four. A bicycle rating does not transfer to a gate chain.
The lock arrived the wrong colour, broken, or without a key. What then?
Goods must match the description and be of satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A lock in the wrong colour, a cracked plastic body, or a missing key is that kind of fault. The short-term right to reject normally runs for 30 days. Contact the seller with photographs. Fitting a broken lock to the gate makes the return harder and leaves the gate unsecured.

Related pages

Padlock comparison

Grating security chain

Best gate chain and padlock: the Sterling 60 cm set

Cellar grate lock chain: plates, release, not a gate

Garden gate chain lock: height, hinges and the loop

How to lock a garden gate with a chain and padlock

Sources

Public UK sources used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures on the four listings. No listing is treated as BS EN 12320, Sold Secure, Secured by Design or LPS 1175. The 10 mm line is ACE Security’s guide, not a test of these chains.

  1. ProtectUK: fences and gates (retrieved October 2026)
  2. Secured by Design: secure your home garden (retrieved October 2026)
  3. BSI: BS EN 12320:2021 padlocks and padlock fittings (retrieved October 2026)
  4. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 14 (retrieved October 2026)
  5. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved October 2026)
  6. ACE Security: padlocks guide (Collections Trust PDF) (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Signet Locks: how to lock a double gate (retrieved October 2026)
  8. Chain Supplies: information about chains (retrieved October 2026)