In my experience, the one fitness-related piece of equipment that people are the least concerned with finding the best option for it’s the humble ruck plate.
(So..ya know…congrats on clicking on this article and obviously breaking the mold!)
…because, ya know, at the end of the day “it’s just a piece of metal inside of a bag, bro…” How much “better” can one plate really be?
I’m not gonna go into some long diatribe here, making the case for one specific plate over another (we’ll pretty much get to that in a moment). However, what I will say (which will hopefully help me make my point) is that it pains me to think about the amount of time I spent rucking with that 20-pound Yes4All plate in my frame sheet-less GORUCK Bullet.
My back, body, and sanity are much better now, mainly because I took the time to discover…
Table of Contents
…the 5 Best Ruck Plates
🏆 Best Overall
92.5
Most Compatible
90
Best Long
83
Best Adjustable
89
Best Laser Cut
89
The 5 Best Ruck Plates
- Rogue Echo Weight Vest Plates – Best Ruck Plates (overall)
- GORUCK Ruck Plates – Most Compatible Ruck Plates
- Yes4All Cast Iron Ruck Weight – Best Long Ruck Plates
- GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates – Best Adjustable Ruck Plates
- Yes4All Weight Vest Plate (Laser Cut) – Best Laser Cut Ruck Plates
Rogue Echo Weight Vest Plates
Best Ruck Plates (Overall): 91/100
Rogue’s Echo Weight Vest Plates are “middle-of-the road” specialty plates designed to fit into standard-sized ruck plate pockets/sleeves and weighted vest pockets.
Sold in pairs, the Echo Weight Vest Plates can be used to symmetrically align both front and back plate vest pockets and, depending on the bag, can be “doubled up” to provide extra resistance in a rucksack.
The Echo Weight Vest Plates are Rogue’s “lesser” weight vest plate option and some may prefer powder-coated plates, but their E-coating is likely a better choice for most people, considering what their likely plate usage looks like…
Pros
Perfectly compatible with “standard”-sized ruck/vest plate pockets
Corrosive-resistant E-coating
Not as expensive as other “premium” options
Cons
Always sold in pairs
Some may prefer powder-coated plates
Not “cheap”
Rogue’s Echo Weight Vest Plates aren’t technically classified as ruck plates. Nevertheless, they are still the best ruck plates on the market. The plates combine superior “standard”-sized ruck plate pocket compatibility with a somewhat limited, but sufficient array of smaller and larger weights/sizes (5, 10, and 20-pound pair options).
Despite being Rogue’s “inferior” vest plates (the USA Cast Weight Vest Plates are the company’s more “premium” option), the Echo Weight Vest Plates nevertheless possess a high-quality E-coating which, for many enthusiasts, is actually preferable to powder coating.
The Echo Weight Vest Plates aren’t the most inexpensive ruck plates out there with the likes of Yes4All (which we will look at in a minute) offering less expensive options. However, as far as quality, “standard”-sized weight vest/ruck plates go, they provide the best combination of utility and value.
GORUCK Ruck Plates
Most Compatible Ruck Plates: 90/100
GORUCK ruck plates are designed and engineered to fit perfectly into the company’s large selection of bags and training accessories such as plate carriers and weighted vests.
The precise proportions and high-quality powder coating put them in a league of their own in the surprisingly small market of plates/weights to stash in your ruck.
Unlike just about all other options, the GORUCK plates’ price point requires a bit more contemplation before deciding to pull the trigger, although intangibles such as the company’s warranty policies, return policies, and customer service marks help to justify the premium.
Pros
Fit perfectly into GORUCK bags/gear
Resilient and beautiful powder coating
“Handles” allow for non-ruck strength work
Cons
Not at all inexpensive
Plates do not have any advantage in non-GORUCK bags/gear
Shipping policies are different than from all other GORUCK items
GORUCK markets itself as “the rucking brand” so of course it has its own ruck plates (it has actually trademarked the term “ruck plates”…that’s how serious this stuff gets!) These beautifully crafted and designed plates are ideal for brand enthusiasts as well as for those who simply want a nice ruck plate.
If you know anything about GORUCK, you’re probably aware that just about all of its gear comes at a bit of a premium. The GORUCK Ruck Plates live up to this reputation, demanding a premium price. Although this aspect is off-putting to many, the superior coating and, more importantly, comfort-enhancing qualities of perfectly fitting ruck plates is worth the cost.
The GORUCK Ruck Plates come in both “standard” and “long” sizes, ensuring that whichever size GORUCK bag and/or pockets you have, the plates will fit perfectly. However, these plates make the most sense if you have a “standard”-sized pocket since compatible “long” plates are much easier to find.
Yes4All Cast Iron Ruck Weight
Best Cheap LONG Ruck Plate: 83/100
The Yes4All Ruck Plate is arguably the most popular and best-selling ruck plate on the market today. It is the most prominently featured ruck plate in Amazon search results.
Yes4All Ruck Plates are renowned for their incredibly low price point which is what likely draws ruckers, especially newer ruckers, to the plates. They are possibly the least expensive, widely-available “long” ruck plates.
Not fitting well, if at all, into “standard”-sized ruck plate pockets, Yes4All Ruck Plates aren’t ideal for most rucks or rucking activities with a rather bland coating.
Pros
Inexpensive
Larger sizes fit “long” ruck pockets pretty well
Readily/easily available
Cons
Do not fit veclroed-enclosing “standard” ruck plate pockets at all
Smaller sizes jostle quite a bit, even in “long” pockets
Cheap coating
Yes4All has a special place in the hearts of numerous ruckers as their Cast Iron Ruck Plates are the first ruck plates that they got their hands on and loaded into their bags. With their most notable quality being their extremely affordable price point, they are an obvious choice for people not looking to make a yuge investment into their new rucking hobby.
With numerous size and weight options available, the Yes4All Cast Iron Ruck Plates offer a decent amount of versatility with the larger options being making the most sense for those with “long” plate pockets (most of the heavier plates fit these pockets perfectly).
Unfortunately, most bags/vests do not have “long” pockets. As such, the Yes4All plates aren’t the best fit much of the time (if they fit at all). Their coating is pretty average, as well, but is decent enough to get the job done, especially considering how inexpensive these plates are.
GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates
Best Adjustable Ruck Plates: 89/100
GORUCK’s Sand Ruck Plates are the brand’s more portable ruck plate alternatives to their more traditional ruck plates.
With similar proportions to GORUCK’s “standard”-sized ruck plates, the Sand Ruck Plates are largely interchangeable with other ruck plate options with the added benefit of technically being adjustable.
The Sand Ruck Plates are a bit less expensive than their traditional counterparts, although they can only be filled up to 15 pounds and “long”-size options are currently unavailable.
Pros
Fit “standard”-sized pockets well
More portable than other ruck plates
Can be slightly adjusted to fit loading preferences
Cons
Can only be loaded with up to 15 pounds of sand
Not as resilient as traditional metal options
If not filled to capacity, can jostle a bit more than other plates
GORUCK’s Sand Ruck Plates have the unique qualities of being (almost) perfectly shaped and sized to fit standard ruck plate pockets while also being adjustable and very easy to travel with (the caveat being that wherever you’re traveling to needs to have readily accessible sand for you to fill your plate with!)
The Sand Ruck Plates are part of GORUCK’s “Train with Sand Collection” and are composed of the same tough Cordura as the company’s sandbags, rucks, and even shoes. This resilient material is very difficult to bust if you decide to use your ruck plate as a makeshift kettlebell or something similar in a pinch.
As you can imagine, the Sand Ruck Plates’ degree of adjustability directly impacts their overall shape. By taking out even 10 percent of a plate’s total weight, the shape will be altered enough that it no longer fits perfectly snug in a “standard” ruck plate pocket. However, for those who value adjustability and portability over exact specifications, they are impossible to beat.
Yes4All Weight Vest Plate (Laser Cut)
Best Laser Cut Ruck Plates: 89/100
Yes4All’s Laser Cut Weight Vest Plates, as their name suggests, fall into the category of laser cut ruck/weight vest plates. albeit serving as more affordable options than others in this category.
The more precisely cut plates are preferred by many due to their more rounded corners and, in the case of Yes4All’s offering, their curved design.
The design of laser cut plates, particularly curved ones, can take some getting used to for those not familiar with them and “long” options are difficult, if not impossible, to find.
Pros
More rounded edges than other ruck plates
Fit vests and rucks
Less expensive than many other laser cut options
Cons
Not as inexpensive as other Yes4All options
Curved ruck/weight vest plates can have a learning “curve”(!)
No “long” options
Yes4All’s second ruck plate option on our list are of the “laser cut” variety. These plates are not as transferable to other types of pockets and purposes as more “traditional” ruck plates, but are renowned for their more precise measurements as well as for their curved edges which many find to be more comfortable than other ruck plates.
The Yes4All Weight Vest Plates (Laser Cut) are, as their name implies, designed for use with weight vests and are not specifically designed for rucks. However, their dimensions are such that they will fit Tactec Plate Carriers perfectly while being very good fits for “standard” sized ruck plate pockets.
With a number of different weight and size options, it isn’t difficult to go pretty heavy with the Yes4All Laser Cut Plates with these variations topping out at ~20 pounds per plate (they are sold in pairs so you’ll get 40 pounds of weight if you select this option). The plates’ curve may take some getting used to for those accustomed to flat plates, but for others, this shape presents a very welcome change.
What we Look for in Ruck Plates
“It’s just a piece of metal inside of a bag, bro…”
Yeah, yeah; we’ve heard it all before (to include at the beginning of this article!)
How complicated can picking out a ruck plate actually be?
Truth be told, it really isn’t all that complicated…but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find the plate(s) that is the best for your bag and/or for your preferences.
It’s not like you’re weighing a bunch of factors to determine the best Smith Machine for your home gym, but we’d still strongly advise that you check out our selection criteria. The last thing you want is a heavy, uncomfortable piece of ore banging against your back for ~100 miles per month.
Compatibility
This seems like a pretty obvious quality, but you’d be astonished by the sheer amount of pushback we’ve seen on ruck plate sizing suggestions.
Simply put, a lot of people just want to use the absolute cheapest plate possible, regardless of whether it actually fits their bag/pockets or not.
We don’t agree with this and we will never agree with this. For a piece of equipment that is used so often and is relatively inexpensive it only makes sense to get your hands on an appropriately sized ruck plate.
Companies like GORUCK produce both “standard” and “long” ruck plates, but in most cases, the companies on our list produce one or the other (or some “quasi-long” like the Yes4All plates).
We award more points for the “standard” plates on this list since they fit more pockets (your random ruck’s pocket is more likely to fit a standard plate than a long one), but GORUCK’s multi-option availability is where it’s at.
We also subtracted some points from the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plate option since it’s hard to get it to feel/fit exactly right (don’t worry, with a little effort you can get it to “close enough for government work” levels).
Ultimately, if you take nothing else from this discussion, please…please review the size of your ruck’s plate pocket and get a properly sized plate. It makes a lot of difference comfort-wise and overall longevity-wise.
You do want to be rucking years and years from now…don’t you…?
Coating
For some folks, ruck plate coating is the “be all, end all”. Whether they need a more resilient coating because they actually handle their plates with regularity or simply because they like a smooth, sleek-looking plate, coating is an important factor.
For others, it doesn’t really matter (or is even viewed as an excuse to jack up the price of a heavy piece of iron).
Regardless of which camp you fall into, it’s useful to know some things about ruck plate coating to better understand how it affects durability and lifespan.
At the top of the heap, you have powdercoated ruck plates (ex. GORUCK Ruck Plates). These are definitely the prettiest plates and are decently resilient against corrosion. However, they are generally the most expensive and, to be frank, if your plate isn’t ever really exposed to the elements, the corrosion resistance qualites are a bit wasted.
Next up are E-coated ruck plates (ex. Rogue Echo Weight Vest Plates). These plates are a bit plainer and less shiny/smooth than powder-coated plates are, but they possess arguably better corrosion-resistant properties while generally being a bit less expensive.
Up next are painted cast iron plates (ex. Yes4All Ruck Plates). This is probably the most common coating as it is simply a piece of cast iron covered in lower-quality paint. These plates aren’t pretty and aren’t overly resistant, but they are inexpensive.
Finally, there are more niche coatings (ex. GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates’s Cordura). These are too numerous to cover, but, like most things, they all have advantages and disadvantages.
To reiterate, I don’t put nearly as much stock into ruck plate coating as I do into barbell coating (and even pull-up bar coating), but don’t fool yourself that this isn’t a major factor in determining…
Price
I would argue that for most (normal) people, this is the most important assessment category. This makes sense because…after all…it’s just gonna sit in your back while you walk around; why pay a premium?
You definitely have a point here!
I’m not gonna beat a dead horse here, but…generally speaking…you can expect to spend anywhere from ~$25 for a small, 10-pound plate to a couple hundred bucks for a pair of Rogue’s Laser Cut plates (which we don’t really recommend). The sweet spot is closer to the $40 (for a 30-pound Yes4All plate) and $150 (for a pair of 20-pound Rogue Echo Weight Vest Plates).
…but you do you…
Customer Reviews
Most of the time, we save Lavar for the end of this section because we’re generally strong believers that as much as we/I know about gear…
…but in this case, we’re deviating (slightly) from this (sorry, Lavar). Don’t blindly trust the reviews you read (especially those touting the greatness of Yes4All plates) from people who have rucked, like, 3 times ever and don’t know the difference between a good (i.e. properly-fitting) and not as good/not so good (i.e. improperly fitting) ruck plate.
Don’t get us wrong; it’s still worth checking user reviews before hitting “buy”…but remember what you’ve read here today, too…
Rucking (Facilitation)
You clicked on an article that mentions “ruck plates” (as opposed to “vest plates” or “weight vest plates” or something similar) by name. We’re gonna assume this topic is of at least slight interest to you.
If you’ve rucked with the same bag, but used different ruck plates, you’ve likely experienced at least a slightly different feeling during your ruck. This could be as subtle as slightly less direct pressure from a curved plate (as opposed to a completely flat one) to the exponentially better comfort you inevitably feel when you stop using a “long” plate in your “standard” ruck plate pocket.
…but not all differences are relative; in many cases, they are absolute…
(In case you didn’t catch that, what these means is that some plates are better for rucking than others).
A lot of the Yes4All ruck plates don’t perfectly fit any “normal” ruck plate pocket while “adjustable” ruck plates are hard to get to fit just right (leading to slight jostling).
Not knowing what kind of bag you (or anyone else in the world has) makes it difficult to definitively say which plates are objectively better for rucking, but perfectly-shaped plates that come in both of the most common ruck plate pocket sizes (like the GORUCK Ruck Plates) are tough to beat.
Dynamic Movement (Facilitation)
It’s possible that you’re only interested in “pure” rucking activities, but we’re willing to bet that you’re likely into some combination of rucking and “dynamic movement” (ex. ruck “functional fitness”, running/training in a weight vest, etc.) If this is the case, you could say that the content from the previous section applies to this one as well…just moreso.
As you might be able to imagine, the stakes are a little higher when you’re swinging a bag around, pressing it overhead, and running in it than when you’re leisurely walking with it strapped to your bag. Plates that don’t fit well or that move around more than they should in their plate pockets aren’t ideal candidates for this type of activity.
Plates are a lot more likely to get loose and to fall out of plate sleeves during this activity than during more traditional rucking. If you plan on “making your ruck your gym”, pay closer attention to this category.
Customer Service
This isn’t going to be a huge deal/concern for most people since it’s difficult to imagine a situation where you “break” your plate or something. However, it’s nice to know that there are people willing and able to help if things go array.
In our experience:
- Dealing with GORUCK is great
- Dealing with Rogue is pretty good
- Dealing with Yes4All is…we couldn’t tell you (they’ve never responded to our messages)
To that last point, if you’re ordering from Amazon (which is most likely if you’re ordering Yes4All plates) this really shouldn’t be an issue. However, if, for some reason, you decide to order direct…well…this could be you referencing Yes4All…
The Best Ruck Plates…
…for most people are (despite their name!) going to be the Rogue Echo Weight Vest Plates. GORUCK’s Ruck Plates edge them out in their “pure” rucking abilities, but they’re a bit more expensive and, for most people, their slight edge isn’t going to make a ton of difference.
That being said, GORUCK’s “traditional” plates fit their bags perfectly so it’s worth getting your hands on one (or more!) if you have or are thinking about getting a GORUCK bag.
For as much as we’ve downplayed Yes4All in this discussion, their larger (30-pounds and higher) plates are excellent and very affordable “long” plate options (probably the best ruck plates for those with “long” plate pockets).
Ultimately, though, if you take only one thing from this breakdown, it should be to do your own research. The best ruck plates for you are going to be extremely dependent on your bag as even the best plates won’t be of much use if the pocket is wrong.
Research >>>> measure >>>> buy once >>>> cry once >>>> profit!
The 5 Best Ruck Plates
🏆 Best Overall
92.5
Most Compatible
90
Best Long
83
Best Adjustable
89
Best Laser Cut
89
