GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates – Our Review

If you’ve decided to actually click on a post discussing the “ins and outs” of all things “sand ruck plates”, I’m going to assume that you’ve done your fair share of rucking.

You may not have decided to go all “train with sand” just yet, but you’re probably at least “sand-adjacent” at this point.

…so why not consider something as ridiculous sounding as a “sand ruck plate”? I mean, it’s cheaper than metal plates (well…cheaper than all metal plates except for you know who…), you can take it with you on a plane, and you can even adjust it.

Too good to be true…or is it?

The GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates are definitely great choices for a select group of ruckers…like…ideal choices…but they’re probably not all that great for everybody.

Think you may be in that select group of the former? Read on and find out!

Rucking

If you’ve read any of our other ruck plate/weight vest plate articles, you know that we don’t spend nearly as much time talking about “rucking” or “dynamic rucking” capabilities in these as we do when we talk about actual rucks or vests. Being that plates are essentially just “along for the ride”, there isn’t as much to say in this regard (the “good” stuff comes a few sections later).

Anyways, as far as being functional for “pure” rucking, the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates are very good-to-excellent. In some ways, they are even preferable to metal or other types of “hard” plates, especially for those who are rocking bags without frame sheets (as you might expect, they are generally softer and do not dig into the body as much/as hard as metal plates do).

However, as we’ll discuss in greater detail in the “compatibility” section, the slightly “amorphous” shape of sand plates (they’re never going to be “perfect” due to how the sand slightly shifts in them) makes them fit slightly “off” in GORUCK “standard sized” ruck plate pockets. This generally isn’t a huge deal, but they can be a bit difficult to fit at times.

I’ve experienced a bit more trouble getting them into my Rucker 4.0 and GORUCK Plate Carrier pockets (which I’ll discuss later on), but this doesn’t really affect the actual rucking experience…it just makes the pre and post experiences more annoying than they should be.

Finally, as with any other “standard sized” ruck plate, you can expect a bit more jostling if you decide to place a Sand Ruck Plate in a “long” ruck plate pocket. GORUCK doesn’t currently offer and “long” Sand Ruck Plates so if you really want a proper “long” plate, you’ll have to go with one of their OG Ruck Plates or even one of the heavier (35-plus pounds) Yes4All Ruck Plates.

Rucking: 90

Dynamic Movements

We have a somewhat similar analysis here as we do to the above take on the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plate’s “rucking” abilities: it does a good enough job when used for dynamic movements…but it isn’t ideal.

Once again, the plate’s biggest “problem” is that it doesn’t fit perfectly snug into “standard sized” ruck plate pockets. While this isn’t that hard to overlook during “pure” rucking ventures, when you’re throwing your bag around, running with it on your bag, or doing a set of 10 pull-ups in your plate carrier, the extra jostling is slightly apparent.

Something else to note is that the plates’ capacity limitations make them unsuitable for most people’s Rx rucking activities. To be more specific, let’s take a look at a few common WOD requirements:

• If you’re planning to do Murph (and, of course, you should be) or just about any other CrossFit metcon that requires a weighted vest, 20 pounds is Rx for men while 14 is Rx for women.

• The Sand Ruck Plates will work for women, but men would need 2 plates and a front-and-back-loaded vest to make it work.
• If you’re planning to do a GORUCK Basic, Tough, or Heavy event, almost all men and a lot of women will need a 30-pound plate. Everyone will need at least 20-pounds worth of plate, meaning that no matter your personal requirements, you’d have to double up your Sand Ruck Plates to meet the required weight.

Granted, these requirements don’t apply to you if you’re not going Rx or doing GORUCK events…but do you really want to be doing your ruck thrusters, ruck swings, and ruck lunges with 15 pounds of resistance…forever…?

…but hey; the good news is, if you plan on doing one of these events at GORUCK HQ, it should be pretty easy to travel to JAX with your unloaded plate in your hand luggage and simply fill it up on the beach when you get there.

Silver linings, amirite?!

Dynamic Movements: 80

Compatibility

As we mentioned earlier…

The good news: GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates fit pretty well in your “standard-sized” ruck plate pockets.

The bad news: GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates do not fit quite perfectly into these pockets, nor do they come in a “long” variation.

For most people, the “good” here is going to pretty heavily outpace the “bad”, but there are some instances where these specifications can get a little annoying.

If you sport a GORUCK bag with a “standard” ruck plate pocket, you’re pretty much never going to have an issue with compatibility. Even non-GORUCK bags with “standard-ish” sized pockets shouldn’t experience any more of a compatibility problem than they do with non-sand “standard sized” ruck plates.

Where you may start to run into problems is if you have a bag with a “long sized” plate pocket.

Now don’t get me wrong; a sand ruck plate will fit into it…it just won’t fit snugly (it’ll more or less fit like any other “standard sized” ruck plate in a “long” ruck plate pocket.

Due to how precise plate pockets are on plate carriers and weight vests, I have experienced slightly more trouble manuevering my sand ruck plate into these pockets. This is due to how the sand warps the plate exterior.

Overall, the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates have pretty good compatibility…just not as good of compatibility as:

• Ruck plates that come in both “standard” and “long” variations (like the classic GORUCK Plates)
• Perfectly cut, metal ruck plates that are designed to fit specific ruck plate pocket specifications.

That being said, if you’re in the…I don’t know…80-85 percent of ruckers who exclusively use a bag/ruck, you’re never going to notice these slight imperfections.

Compatibility: 85

Coating

As you can imagine, this is the real “X-factor” quality of the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates since they, quite obviously, have a very different coating than just about any other ruck plate you’d likely consider getting your hands on.

Instead of the plate being a hunk of metal ore covered in some type of powder or E-coating, you got sand covered by Cordura.

Obviously, we can’t really make an “apples to apples” comparison between these types of materials; they are simply too different. However, we can comment on the overall durability of this coating relative to other plates.

…and it’s pretty durable!

I would argue that the Cordura is equal parts capable of containing tightly packed sand while also being less abrasive against the back (especially if you’re working with a ruck that does not have a frame sheet) than metal plates.

Like most Cordura products, the Sand Ruck Plates do not really sustain significant abrasions or scuffing relative to less robust material. Of course, if you’re really trying, you can cut these up (in a way that you can’t with metal plates)…so…don’t bring a knife to a ruck (plate) fight.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that these are anywhere as pretty as powder coated ruck plates and I don’t expect them to last as long as my metal plates, but as far as “material” plates go, these are pretty tough to beat in this area.

Coating: 90*

Price

As far as price goes, the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates are pretty competitive compared to just about every other ruck plate of note. It’s hard for any ruck plate to compete with the ultra affordable Yes4All Ruck Plates, but if we take these out of the equation, the Sand Ruck Plates may just be the most inexpensive option.

At $35 for the 10-pound plate and $45 for the 15-pound plate, these ruck plates aren’t going to break the bank, even when accounting for the extra few bucks that you’ll have to pay for the sand to fill them with (no…these do not come pre-filled with sand!)

For “standard sized” ruck plates, it doesn’t get much cheaper than these.

Price: 85

Customer Reviews

Count on something as (you have to admit) obscure as a “sand ruck plate” to have one of the higher customer review scores on the GORUCK website.

Currently sitting at a 4.8 out of 5 collective review score, the sand ruck plate has received almost universally high ratings (51 of the 57 reviews are 5-star reviews). Granted, 57 isn’t the biggest sample size and I can’t find these for sale, yet alone reviewed, anywhere other than on the official GORUCK webpage.

…but whatever; at the end of the day, we’re talking about a sub-$50 ruck plate that has gotten high reviews from almost everyone from the small group of people that has gotten their hands on it.

Granted, of the two “negative” (one of these is a 3-star) reviews, one mentions that they had trouble getting their 15-pound plate to fit into their Rucker 3.0.

Not the best anecdotal review, but I think it’s safe to say most people are pretty satisfied with these.

Customer Reviews: 96

Customer Service

We mention this in all of our GORUCK reviews (which you’ve obviously read by now, right?), but we’ll state it again here: GORUCK’s customer service capabilities aren’t perfect…but they’re pretty close.

Of course, dealing with customer service departments of any persuasions is something that most people likely try to minimize and I don’t want my ~5 experiences over the last ~1.5 years to imply that I’ve received a lot of screwed up stuff or that I’m a whiner (one of these statements may or may not be true…).

Ultimately, I’ve had a few minor issues with orders…and GORUCK has provided almost perfect service every time.

One of the main things I appreciate about dealing with GORUCK is that I’m fairly confident that I’m always dealing with a U.S.-based human (or with ChatGPT 19.5 or something). To that point, I also get very human-like responses from the GORUCK reps…little copy-and-pasting from “the manual” or canned, no-thought responses.

They assess situations as they come and address them accordingly.

To be honest, the one time where things weren’t ideally handled was a time where it seemed like they tried to do something “by the book” that didn’t make sense in the situational context (requiring I cancel an entire order to update it/add a single item).

If you’re placing a basic, standard order with GORUCK, I seriously doubt you’ll have any issues, but if you do, don’t worry about it. It’ll get handled.

Customer Service: 95

Who are GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates really for?

There are definitely some instances where the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates make a lot of sense and, if one of these instances happens to involve you and your plans, you may want to give them a closer look. Let’s take discuss these scenarios in a bit more detail:

Those who want an “adjustable” ruck plate

Due to uncompromising dimensions of ruck plate pockets, “adjustable” is pretty much always going to be in quotes when it comes to ruck plates that allow for any type of variability. However, GORUCK’s sand ruck plates allow for you to cut a few pounds from your load without distorting the plate all that much.

Granted, I’m not aware of too many people who would put in the effort to regularly add and empty sand from their plate to achieve a 13-pound plate versus a 15-pound plate versus a 14-pound plate…but it’s nice to know you have that option!

Those looking to travel with their plates

I know that many (most?) vacations don’t involve tropical locations (i.e. a place with sand), but the sand ruck plates make for good travel plates, regardless. Of course, if you are travelling to a beach or other location with sand, you’re all set (can travel with empties and fill up once you get to your location).

If you’re going to some place that’s more…I don’t know…serious(?), your ability to load up your plate on the fly is a bit more limited. However, worst case, these do fine in checked luggage and, in all seriousness, there is something about sand-filled plates that is much more agreeable with airport security than metal options. As such, there is a (possibly significantly) greater than zero chance these can travel in your carry-on!

Not for those who want to go heavy

We don’t have a “Load Capacity” section for ruck plates, but you probably surmised that you can’t stick that much sand in any (and by any, I mean “the two”) of the sand ruck plate offerings. They top out at 15 pounds which, even for pretty novice ruckers, isn’t all that much weight.

Of course, you can always double up, especially if you have something like the Rucker 4.0 or Rucker – Long Range that has dual pockets, but, I can assure you, if you want to ruck with 30 pounds, a single 30-pound plate beats the heck out of multiple weights adding up to 30 pounds.

How we reviewed the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates

I wish I could make this section more interesting than it is…but…I stuck the sand ruck plates into my rucks, plate carrier, and vests for a variety of ruck outings and (weighted) bodyweight exercises/movements.

No…I haven’t travelled with it nor have I tried to adjust it so that I’m only using 8 or 9 pounds instead of 10 pounds.

…so yeah…I’ve used it (quite a bit, I’d say) in ways that most people are most likely to use their sand ruck plates on a regular basis.

GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates Alternatives

To be perfectly frank, sand ruck plates are a pretty niche concept. If you’re not quite ready to niche down that much, these three alternatives are likely your best options:

Frequently Asked Questions

Although the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates don’t require the biggest investment, you probably have a question or two before biting the bullet and going full “train with sand”. Hopefully we cover all of your inquiries with these two:

GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates…the best portable ruck plates…if…ya know…you travel with ruck plates…

As we’ve discussed today, there are definitely a few things to like about the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plates.

They’re relatively inexpensive and are less abrasive than many other, “traditional” ruck plates. However, their biggest selling points are their “adjustability” and “portability” capabilities.

…and if you like to subtract a few pounds from your plate with regularity and are constantly traveling with your plate in your carry-on, these are must-haves for you.

…but, in all honesty, you’re probably not either of these people and these advantages don’t apply to you…like…in the slightest.

Don’t get me wrong; I think these are definitely cool qualities and capabilities, but they sure as heck don’t apply to me.

If you don’t mind manually loading a bit of sand into your plate or doubling up your plates if you want to go heavier, the GORUCK Sand Ruck Plate is an interesting option for your non-adjusting and non-traveling rucker. I just happen to think its niche capabilities are a bit too niche to really be relevant for most people…