— one of the main features of rubber is softness and elasticity, which in the case of photographic hoods provides an important advantage: such a nozzle can to some extent also play the role of impact protection. If it is simpler, that when a plastic or metal hood collides with some kind of obstacle, the lens will undergo quite a strong shock, and a soft rubber hood can absorb some of the energy and save sensitive optics from damage. However, the degree of such protection is not particularly high, and in fact it is required relatively rarely; at the same time, rubber hoods are somewhat more complex, expensive, heavier and more bulky than plastic ones. Therefore, this option has not received much distribution.
