Occasionally you will find a used bit on ebay with both curb and lip chains but never new.
Leather lip staps can be bought but not chains. Leather gets disgusting after a short time and chains just need a rinse.
Were they made illegal?
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You’re right, they don’t seem as ubiquitous as they once were.
As for being legal I would call USEF and ask if your discipline allows them. I’d be surprised if they were not allowed.
Thank you.
I bought a lip chain over 40 years ago and never saw one in a tack store again.
The chains sure are a lot easier to put on the bit than a leather lip strap.
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It would be easy I think, to have one made by a handy person at the hardware store (or at home.)
I never used the leather straps either.
I’ve never seen a chain! I’ve barely seen anyone use a strap in recent years.
They are pretty “old school” but my teachers were old school, so to me they were always part of a full bridle. 
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I haven’t used a Pelham or curb in ages but we used to wrap the leather and metal ones in vet wrap to keep them clean.
Fennells has them.
Yes they have them , and I shared a link to the Fennells lip chain earlier on this thread.
Shires Equestrian (www.shiresrquestrian.com) sells three types of curb “chain” and also a rolled leather lip strap - that I was taught was necessary but now rarely seen out of the show ring.
I’m so old that my hunting pelham had a curb chain and a tiny leather strap that attached to the shank of the pelham and ran through that extra link in the middle of the curb chain.
I remember that the little leather strap was a witch to clean and had a tendency to dive under things and get lost the second it was detached from the bit.
I still have no idea what purpose it served, but I was sure if I showed up without one, the turnout Nazis would notice and shame me for it.
Haven’t seen one in ages. The pictured one is rather coarse, I want to say mine was rolled leather? It’s been so long I don’t recall.
THIS is what I recall:
…but of course, that curb chain is incorrect, because it doesn’t have the extra link in the center for the strap to run through.
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Keeps you from loosing the curb chain if it comes off for whatever reason.
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Lip strap/chain holds the curb chain in proper position and keeps the horse from being able to grab the shank in its teeth and either chew on it or, as I am sure some of us remember, take off leaving rider with squat in the brakes department. Stinkers…
Think the advent of so many new types of bit that add lift / poll pressure using a single rein, like the Mylars, have allowed more options in that department for average needs.
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That curb chain doesn’t have a center link for the strap to run through because it is a lip chain, not a curb chain.
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Okay, you’ve got me. What’s the difference?
The curb chain is what we normally see. The lip chain or strap attaches the the tiny lower loops on a curb and goes through the extra center link on the curb chain to hold it in place and prevent loss.
Here is a picture with a curb chain and lip strap. The lip strap could also be a chain.
A lip chain is finer than a curb chain.
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The picture you provided shows two lip thingies, one is a lip chain and one is a lip strap 
It’s not showing a completely setup for a curb and lip strap, merely two lip strap options.
