A significant source of failure for external fixation devices is loosening of the fixation implant. As bone competence drops with ageing or disease such as osteoporosis, the risk of loosening is likely to increase. However it is not clear how fixator configuration should be adapted to minimise loosening in weaker bone. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of bone competence on the yielding of bone tissue surrounding fixation implants, and thereby inform the selection of fixator configuration to minimise loosening. External fixation of the tibial midshaft using half-pins and Illizarov wires was modelled using finite-element analysis. Half-pin configurations of two and three stainless steel and titanium pins pins were assessed. Illizarov wire configurations of two and four wires were studied, over a range of wire tensions. Bone competence was varied by changing the cortical thickness and elastic properties of the bone fragments to approximate: a) young, high-density bone, b) middle-aged, mid-porosity bone and c) old-aged, severely porous bone. Bone elastic properties were taken from a recent study of cortical bone conducted by the authors. The interaction between implants and bone was modelled with contact analysis, enabling realistic separation. Implant loosening was included using a bone-specific, strain-based yield criterion. Regions where bone tissue yielded were identified as likely sites of loosening. In all cases loading was applied to simulate a one-legged stance.