How to Weight Your Ruck: Plates, Sandbags, Water & DIY Options

Dedicated Ruck Plates

A ruck plate is a flat, rigid weight — usually steel or urethane-coated steel — shaped to sit against your back inside the main compartment of your rucksack, often with its own internal sleeve or pocket. This is the option most serious ruckers eventually land on.

Pros: Sits flat and stable against your back (no shifting), doesn't take up carrying volume the way bulkier alternatives do, comes in precise fixed weights so you always know exactly what you're carrying, and a coated plate won't damage your pack's interior.

Cons: Costs money (uncoated steel plates are cheaper than urethane-coated ones), and you'll likely want more than one weight increment as you progress, which adds up. See our essential gear guide for specific plate recommendations.

DIY Sandbags

Often called a "ruck pill," this is the classic budget option: fill a heavy-duty bag with sand, seal it thoroughly, and you have a flexible weight that costs just a few dollars to make.

How to make one: Use a contractor-grade trash bag or a purpose-made canvas/tarp bag, fill it with play sand from a hardware store, and seal it with several overlapping layers of duct tape — reinforce the seams especially, since that's where sand escapes. Most people start around 10 lbs per bag and make a couple of different sizes.

Pros: Very cheap, flexible enough to pack comfortably against your back, and easy to make in multiple weight increments.

Cons: Durability depends entirely on how well you sealed it — a torn bag means sand inside your pack (and gear). Double or triple-tape the seams, and check it periodically for wear.

Water

The simplest option if you already own a hydration bladder or some jugs: water is cheap, infinitely adjustable, and you likely have a container for it already.

The numbers: A standard 1-US-gallon jug of water weighs 8.34 lbs. A 2-liter bottle weighs about 4.4 lbs. This makes it easy to hit round weight targets — two gallon jugs gets you to roughly 16.7 lbs, for example.

Pros: Free if you already have containers, trivially adjustable (pour some out to drop weight), and doubles as an emergency water reserve.

Cons: Sloshing water shifts as you move, which some people find less comfortable than a rigid or well-packed weight; jugs with hard corners can dig into your back without padding.

Books & Dense Household Items

Textbooks, phone books (if you can still find one), or any dense, flat household items work in a pinch. This is usually the "I want to start today" option before buying or making anything.

Pros: Free, already in your house, and flat books pack reasonably close to your back.

Cons: Imprecise — you're estimating total weight rather than knowing it exactly — and hardcover corners can cause the same discomfort as any other hard-edged item without padding.

Bricks & Pavers

A standard modular clay brick weighs about 4.2 lbs; concrete pavers typically run 8-10 lbs each, which means you only need a couple to hit a meaningful training weight.

Pros: Cheap or free (hardware stores sell them individually, and construction sites often have extras), and the flat shape packs reasonably well.

Cons: Hard, sharp-cornered, and will wear through pack fabric fast without padding — wrap each one in a towel, foam, or heavy plastic before it goes anywhere near your pack's interior.

Comparison Table

When to Upgrade to a Dedicated Plate

DIY options are a completely legitimate way to train long-term — plenty of experienced ruckers stick with sandbags or water indefinitely. Consider a dedicated plate when: you're training consistently enough that durability starts to matter (a sandbag that fails mid-ruck is a bigger problem the more often you ruck), you want to stop estimating and know your exact weight, or you've found that loose/improvised weight is uncomfortable no matter how you pack it. See our essential gear guide for specific plate picks.

Frequently Asked Questions