How To: DIY Affordable Ruck Plate Guide

Overview

This how-to is less of a tutorial or guide and more a concept that we use. I am sure we are not the first to do this at all however I have not seen any postings online of people implementing a quick and clean DIY ruck plate.

Often DIY ruck plates come in two forms: wrapped bricks or a wrapped iron sheet. These concepts work just as well as any as the main goal is have a bag loaded with weight – what the weight is is technically irrelevant however the method below I feel is a significant improvement over the above methods. Here’s why:

Current Solutions

Wrapped Bricks – Whilst the advantage to wrapping bricks is that the weight is modular so weight can be added and removed easily there are downsides too.
- They are very bulky meaning less space in your ruck for other things such as water, EDC or spare clothes etc.
- Where I live, we don’t have ‘normal bricks’. What I mean is that everything is built out of concrete and breeze blocks (cinderblocks) making finding bricks an unusually tricky thing.
- Given that bricks are cuboid in shape means they have coarse corners and edges which no matter how well they are wrapped will eventually start to ruin your ruck.
- Securing 6 or so heavy items inside your ruck is tricky and time consuming especially if the bricks need to be regularly removed.

Wrapped Iron / Steel Plate – The form factor of a steel plate is far more appealing than bricks however…
- Finding a 1-2 inch thick steel plate isn’t going to be easy. They’re not exactly left out by the bins.
- Similar issue as bricks with coarse edges and corners

Official Goruck Ruck Plates – Obviously the perfect solution given that they were designed for the task at hand but…
- Very expensive – especially for the European market

Proposed Solution

By using rubberised weight training discs many of the above faults are removed.

Non Abrasive – As the discs are rubber coated they won’t wear on the ruck
Rounded Corners & Edges – The discs are circular and feature smooth edges so won’t create an ugly patina on the ruck
Rust-Free – Whilst the iron discs themselves are not rust-free, the rubberised coating means that they won’t corrode if they get wet due to sweat or rain
Affordable – With many suppliers to choose from and an abundant second hand market, weight discs are easy to come by

Accessible – With most towns and cities having large sports stores, a short journey should yield some form of weight disc
Easily removable – Most discs will fit nicely into the ruck plate pouch of Goruck GR1 or Rucker
Compact – Unlike bricks, the slim form factor of disc weights mean you will still have plenty of space in your ruck for other things

Time (minutes)

0€

Cost

Difficulty 1-10

What You Will Need

Weight Disc

Weight is personal preference. In the example we used a 10kg (22lb) weight disc.
Maximum diameter shouldn’t be more than 29cm (11 inches) so that it fits in the ruck plate pouch
Maximum thickness shouldn’t be more than 4cm (1.5 inches) so that it will fit inside the ruck plate pouch
If you’re unsure about size, take your ruck with you when buying the weight disc to make sure it fits
Rubber coated is preferable but normal uncoated cast iron discs will work just as well
Make sure the discs are cast iron and not the plastic type filled with sand
Can be bought from Decathlon here

Yoga Block

Any kind of regular foam yoga block will work well.
We got ours from Decathlon for €5

Large Sharp Knife

A large sharp knife will be required to cut through the yoga block

Permanent Marker

Permanent marker pen for marking where to cut the yoga block

Tape Measure

A standard tape measure for drawing straight lines and equalising distances

Guide

Step 1

With a permanent marker, mark out on the yoga block an outline of a quarter of the disc. We left a little extra foam on one of the flat surfaces to help raise the weight disc and to prevent the bottom of the disc resting in the base of the pouch.

Step 2

Take your large sharp knife and carefully cut along the line you have just drawn. Try to keep the cut as perpendicular and clean as possible. A saw can be used but will make a lot of debris and a poorer cut.

Step 3

Once you are happy with the cut (if not there should be enough excess on the leftover piece to try again) mark a line down the centre of the yoga block. Depending how precise you wish to be, you may want to measure equal distances around the block first.

Step 4

Take the sharp knife and once again carefully cut along the line. Start with the thinner edges first working your way to the middle.

Step 5

Check that you are happy with the results. Remember if not, there should be enough excess on the off-cut to try again. If you are happy with the corner pieces, insert them into the ruck plate pouch of the ruck.

Step 6

Slide the weight disc into the pouch and on top of the cut yoga block. This may be more difficult with a rubberised disc as the rubber adds extra friction. If the original lines were cut well, the disc should sit comfortably on top of the corner pieces of yoga block.

Black Goruck GR1 with 10kg weight disc steps finished

That’s It!

Load up and get out there!

With all that extra weight in your GR1, why not head over to our Strap Training article to find out how to use your ruck in a varied workout.

Black Goruck GR1 with Source hydration bladder

Extra

If you find the disc moving around when rucking, use some nylon webbing to secure the disc to the molle webbing inside of the GR1.

How To Guide: DIY Affordable Ruck Plate