Is there a particular reason why most prison doors’ bars are vertical?

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I would assume horizontal bars would make it stronger because they will have to be shorter (assuming normal door proportions)

EDIT: I mean cell doors

EDIT 2: Ok so its a combo of reasons like making it harder to punch thru the bars, exchange goods, use weight to bend the bars, and no climbing to prevent WWE scenarios. Aight thanks guys

In: Other

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Imagine someone trying to reach between the bars to either hand off goods or hit someone. Horizontal movements would let them reach more than vertical movements do.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Pretty sure it’s because a little bit of weight and pressure can easily bend the bars. It takes a lot more effort to bend vertical bars.

Anonymous 0 Comments

There is a practical reason. Making them vertical prevents making them a ladder. In addition today in modern prisons there are mainly solide door in order to prevent trafficking of good and maintaining the privacy of inmates.

Anonymous 0 Comments

You can climb horizontal bars but not vertical. So it’s a standard security practice in taking that tool away from prisoners

Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s usually both. Vertical bars combined with a 1/4″x 2″ bar with holes punched in it to slip over the bars before welding.

Anonymous 0 Comments

prevents laddering an d usage of the bar as choking weapons(too much, by pushnig someone into them)

having them vertical also prevents you from being ale ot stack on weight on them to bend them

Anonymous 0 Comments

Former prisoner here. It may not be the same for other places, but in Utah they had completely done away with barred cells and switched to concrete/cinderblock walls with a reinforced D2 utility steel door with a bulletproof glass view port. The only part of the prison that had bars was the intake block that used to be the old deathrow building back in the 40s and 50s. You typically only stayed in that building a week or less before they moved you to population. Other than that, I never encountered bars during my entire stay. I suppose whether or not bars were vertical or horizontal, switching to the new format gives less chance of escape or physical contact with prisoners who may be more dangerous than others or who are having a public freak out.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Climbing is a factor, but not the big one.

Why are bird cage also verticle and not horizontal?

BECAUSE CO$T.

Horizontal bars would cost more as most jail are wider than taller.

AND, horizontal bar, unless you support it with multiple verticle bars, it will become bent over time if weight is applied. which leads to more replacement and more cost. So yeah…

Anonymous 0 Comments

As a steel fabricator I can tell you that that it way easier to make a door like that with vertical bars, also the door will weight way less since you need way less material. (If we assume we are using normal door proportions.)

Anonymous 0 Comments

From a construction perspective, if you’re fencing off a large opening with bars installing multiple, shorter vertical sections is easier than levelling long horizontal bars.

You’ll also have to put many vertical posts to prevent the horizontal bars from sagging or worse, being deformable enough in order to let a person squeeze through. ( You can see how soft steel can be when you deal with 6m sections often.)