
Hard plastic, not rubber. Large pad hex set screw, holds gauge 0/1 in place very well. The plastic locking screw sits under the plastic so chances of contact are very slim and not even a problem unless you're also holding the bottom, which would be silly. I use them to connect the 12v line from my battery pack to the inverter in my caravan. The cable connector accepted the 0/1 welding cable with no problems. I simply cut the wire, stripped the insulation, twisted the bare wire together and plugged it into the connector. The hexagonal lock screwed in and fixed the cable perfectly. This is great for connecting the two ends of a cable together.