Bumper Plates are a key necessity for any type of strength training program
Weight plates are the most heavily used and abused piece of equipment in any gym. When purchasing bumpers for your gym, make sure to consider warranty and durability as well as company history. Vulcan Strength was founded in 2009. We fully stand behind our products and continue to focus on quality and innovation.
Bumper Plates Description:
Made to IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) Standard diameter 450 mm (17.7165 inch)
Solid Rubber Weight Plates made from virgin rubber not recycled rubber
low bounce for safety
low odor
Safe for platform use
Our plates have been tested to 30,000 drops from a height of 9 feet without any deformation of the insert or damage to the rubber surface.
Shore Durometer A 87.7 - 89.3 What is Shore Durometer? See Here
Bumper Plates Dimensions and Specifications
Weight Plate Diameter:
450 mm (17.7 inches)
Collar opening is 50.4 mm
Bumper Plate Thickness
10 lb - 1.06"
15 lb - 1.18"
25 lb - 1.18"
35 lb - 2.31"
45 lb - 3"
55 lb - 3.06"
Insert Type: Forged stainless anchored into rubber. Vulcan strength was the first company to introduce this technology in 2011. Many other brands of bumper plates used stamped in or pressed in metal inserts that can easily depart from the plate or begin to loosen with repeated drops.
Thinner Profile allows more weight plates on the barbell
Warranty: 36 months and 1 day warranty on 55 lb, 45 lb, 35 lb, and 25 lb bumper plates. 1 Year warranty on 15 lb and 10 lb bumper plates
Why Use Bumper Plates?
Bumper plates would not be in existence if not for the sport of Olympic Weightlifting. Olympic Weightlifting was included in the Olympic games as early as the 1890's. The first games featured one hand and odd lifts as well as the traditional Snatch and Clean and Jerk. Original weightlifting plates were made of steel and cast iron. As records increased it became necessary for weightlifters to drop the weights from overhead rather than risk injury to bring them down after the extreme physical exertion from the execution of the one rep maximum lift. First attempts at manufacturing rubber bumper plates resulted in very thick rubber plates that caused issue when trying to add multiple plates to the weight bar. Making the shaft of the bar longer to accommodate the thickness of the plates was not an option as it displaced the load further from the lifter's body, making the lift harder than it inherently is. Later on, Vulcanized rubber was used to create bumper plates. The process of vulcanization makes a harder, thinner, denser plate that is more durable than recycled rubber bumper plates.
Bumper Plates allow the lifter to safely drop heavy weights from over head which is an essential aspect of the Olympic Weightlifting movements. Bumper Plates also allow the lifter to safely miss lifts when beginning to learn technique based weightlifting or attempting maximal weight squats and or heavy overhead lifts.
Vulcan Bumper Plates are recommended for commercial gym use, high school and college weight rooms, CrossFit gyms, athletic training centers, home gyms, and police, military or first responder training environments.
Our black bumper plates are safe for dropping on wood platforms or athletic rubber flooring. They are not recommended for dropping on concrete or aggregate surfaces. Please see our Alpha Bumper Plates for outdoor use bumper plates.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bumper Plates
What is a Bumper Plate?
A bumper plate is a weight plate specifically made for Olympic weightlifting. A bumper plate is generally 17.7" diameter and can vary in thickness according to the weight. Unlike a rubber coated metal plate, a true bumper plate does not have a steel core inside to account for the weight of the plate. A true bumper plate is made from a process called Vulcanization. Virgin rubber pieces are compressed with several thousands pounds of force and heat to compress a large amount of rubber into a dense heavy plate.
What are the advantages of using Rubber Bumper Plates versus Cast Iron Olympic Weight Plates?
Bumper plates can be dropped from any height by the lifter without breaking easily, damaging floors, or causing injury. In the earlier years of Olympic weightlifting, the lifter could not drop the weights from the overhead position after the completion of a lift as it would damage the floor or bend/break the weightlifting equipment. With the advent of bumper plates, lifters were able to lift heavier weights without fear of injuring themselves during the act of bringing the weight back down to the shoulders/clavicles.
Bumper plates do not rust like cast iron plates
Bumper plates do not chip like the paint on cast iron plates
Bumper Plates do not damage barbells like cast iron/metal plates
Even if you are not practicing the Olympic lifts, bumper plates are considerably less noisy than cast iron/metal plates
Safer than metal plates when lifter fails in the execution of the lift
How are Bumper Plates Made?
Vulcan bumper plates are made from virgin natural rubber and synthetic rubber compounds. No used tires or recycled rubber products are used in Vulcan bumper plates, therefore they are PAHS and Phthales Free The inserts of our bumper plates are made from forged steel and anchored into the core of the natural rubber compound. Virgin Rubber cannot be sourced in the United States as the plant that is harvested from (Hevea brasiliensis) cannot be cultivated in the USA. Only Latex and urethane material can be made in the US. All virgin rubber or products that are made from recycled natural rubber are using material that is not made in the USA.
What Does Shore Hardness have to do with Bumper Plates?
For many years bumper plate marketing has contained information relating to Shore Hardness. Currently all bumper plate manufacturers utilize rubber compounds that are between 85-92 SHa. You will find information on Shore Hardness on many of our premier bumper plates, such as the black and color bumper plates. We have discovered over the years is that many claims that competitors were making of shore hardness was simply information copied from other competitors websites. We discovered that most did not have any actual method to test shore hardness and they simply made up numbers without any scientific backing. Shore hardness is only one aspect of rubber manufacture. There is elongation to break, tensile strength, chemical composition, construction, and other aspects that can be equally important in relation to the performance of a bumper plate and it's durability. Two brands of bumper plates could have the same shore hardness and exhibit completely different aspects of bounce and durability.
Are Vulcan Bumper Plates Low Bounce?
Yes. They are virtually no bounce. Bumper plates made crumb rubber and recycled rubber have the highest amounts of bounce which can be distracting, performance robbing, and dangerous. Higher bounce does not indicate that the bumper plates will have less of an impact on damaging floors.
Who Trains With Vulcan Bumper Plates?
Anyone can use our bumper plates. regardless of the end user's skill or level of training Vulcan bumper plates will serve them well. You can find Vulcan bumper plates in CrossFit gyms, Personal Training gyms, commercial gyms, high school/college gyms, Police, Fire, and military gyms, as well as every day home and garage gyms.
Do Bumper Plates last a long time?
Vulcan Bumper plates can last a lifetime depending on their use. Our first variant of bumper plates were released in 2009 and many gyms that bought those first Vulcan bumper plates have those plates still in good condition.
How Are Your Bumper Plates Drop Tested?
This video below shows our most recent drop testing machine. The machine will drop the bumper plates no less than 30,000 times. The weight that is hoisted by the chain weighs approximately 20 kilograms to simulate the weight of a barbell. Of course, having access to a machine like this would lead to testing competitors bumper plates. We have tested quite a few and yet to find other manufacturers' plates capable of withstanding the test.
Do your Bumper Plate have a "hooked" or Anchored Stainless Steel Insert?
Yes! In fact, Vulcan was the first company to innovate this method of mating stell with rubber in a permanent bond. There is a bit more to than just the steel anchors, as rubber doesn't easily adhere to steel. Its a proprietary process that that makes it almost impossible to separate the insert from the rubber.
