bumpers&cast plates...

[badly_dubbed]

can i use say a 25kg bumper on my bar alongside cast plates (to make the weight up) and still drop it when doing snatches/cleans onto 22mm rubber matting - or will the cast plates wreck the collars of the bar still?

[MJ.23]

The iron plates at my gym are probably older than I am. They have seen years of abuse and are still going (as well as the bars). Graphite plates tend to be the issue when dropping from height. What I do when doing heavy overhead stuff where I drop the bar, is use bumper plates first on the bar then use iron plates. Bumpers have a slightly greater diameter than iron plates and give a tiny little cushioning distance for the bar.

[badly_dubbed]

cool, saves me from shelling out for an entire bumper kit