Feel the tension in the... rail

Our house has a fence around the backyard.  It's about 60 years old, and is in rough shape.  It never fails though.  We have a party, and the minute any boy under eight arrives in our yard, he is trying to bounce off the fence.  Fortunately it has never failed us.  I'd like to say the same thing about my deck railing one day.

Poorly built railing injury more people than any other deck issue other than collapse.  So even if it's that last thing you plan on your deck, its worth spending some time focusing on.

Here are a few decisions you'll be facing:

Railing Posts

Post have to attach to your deck somehow.  Your options are:

1. Inside the joist, bolted to the joist 
2. Outside the joist, bolted to the rim

Personally, I am planning outside.  I like the way inside railings looks, but I think they have a couple issues.  They take away useable deck space, and they introduce a lot of cracks for water to get trapped in.  Good hardware can make outside connection plenty strong.

Lag Bolts and Carriage Bolts

I don't think there is any question here.  Carriage bolts, stainless in you can fit it in your budget, with a big fat washer.  Lag bolts can't be tightened over time without stripping out the wood eventually.

There are a lot of sources for carriage bolts, but your probably going to need to really long ones for this.  I'm looking at 1/2" x 7 or 8 inches long.  Take a look at Bolt Depot, and compare prices from there.  They have a good selection, including Stainless Carriage Bolts in 18-8 type stainless.

I've had some luck finding bigger groups (like 25) cheaper on eBay too.

Rail Tension Hardware

I'm adding some rail tension hardware as well as the Simpson DTT2Z-R2 Deck Tension,
over at Amazon, they have a 20 pack as well, which is a pretty good deal at $6 each.

These tie the railing into the joists on your deck.  That adds a couple thousand pounds of lateral resistance.  Not sure there are any major alternatives to this product.