License Plate Tearing as a Feat of Strength

License plate tearing is an impressive oldtime strongman feat of strength that involves ripping a metal license plate in half with your bare hands. This rare grip strength challenge has been around since license plates were first introduced and continues to test full-body power and mental toughness.

Since I moved states, I had some extra license plates lying around. After completing my two decks of cards tear goal, I was searching for something new and exciting, so I have just recently tried this feat for the first time. As shown on the video, this is only the third license plate I’ve torn in half.

License Plate Ripped in Half (My 3rd Ever Tear!)

How to Tear a License Plate in Half

This feat is somewhere in between bending metal and ripping phonebooks in half. In fact it uses a grip similar to the latter except that the hands are working in opposite directions to each other.

In addition to the grip strength, a lot of the force comes from the chest pushing the arms across from each other. 

Bracing the plate against the chest provides critical leverage for the tear.

This feat is often done with gloves or wraps because the metal can be sharp when torn. Other people have done it bare-handed, but you’d want to be extra careful in doing that so that you don’t cut yourself.

You can tear a single license plate multiple times. Just like phonebooks or cards, doing so becomes progressively tougher as the gripping space shrinks down.

Where to Buy License Plates for Tearing Practice

Not all license plates are created equal. Some older plates are thicker steel and way tougher than newer aluminum ones, so difficulty can vary quite a bit. I found that the Idaho plates I had were easier than the California ones. 

You might be able to find them lying around somewhere.

But for convenience, for anyone interested in doing this feat, you can find license plates available in bulk in places like eBay or Amazon.