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Pickleball · Multi-source review synthesis

The Bread & Butter Loco, According to 41 Reviewers

Bread & Butter's first true full-foam paddle landed at $199 and most reviewers spent the next breath comparing it to a $333 Selkirk Boomstick. We read 41 reviews to find where they actually agree, where they fight, and who you should believe.

Creator: clpanicRuntime: 0 minPublished: 2026-06-04T10:47:52Z
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TL;DR

The 30-second version

  1. The Loco is a Gen 4 full-foam power paddle — floating EP foam core ringed by EVA foam, CFC (carbon-fiberglass-carbon) face — in three shapes (widebody, hybrid, elongated) at 16mm, $199 (≈$180 with a code). Near-universal agreement on all of that.
  2. Consensus take is the loudest one in pickleball right now — elite power and pop, big forgiving sweet spot, top-tier spin, and roughly 85-90% of a Selkirk Boomstick for $100-150 less. Several reviewers called it a paddle-of-the-year contender.
  3. The hybrid shape is the crowd favorite (most balanced); the widebody wins on sweet spot and hand speed; the elongated splits opinion — a couple reviewers found it heavy (123 swing weight) and bettered by the Boomstick.
  4. Real disagreements: is it controllable or not (depends on your level), does its grit last or wear smooth, and is the 6-month warranty a dealbreaker against the Boomstick's lifetime coverage.
  5. Most-trusted lab voice (Johnkew, who measures): elite power, 80s-90s percentile firepower, spin in the 70s, and he personally found the pop harder to tame than the Boomstick. Heads-up: 21 of these 41 reviews were sponsored or used brand-supplied paddles.

01 · What it is

The baseline almost everyone agrees on

Strip away the rankings and nearly every reviewer describes the same paddle. This is Bread & Butter's first full-foam (Gen 4) build — a remake of the old 2023 thermoform Loco, which was a control paddle. The new one is a power paddle.

Construction

Floating EP foam center core, ringed by an EVA foam band, with a thermoformed CFC face — carbon fiber / fiberglass / carbon fiber. The fiberglass layer is what adds the pop.

Shapes

Three — widebody (standard), hybrid, elongated — all 16mm thick. One of the only full-foam lineups offered in all three.

Price

$199 retail, dropping to ≈$180 with a creator code (codes range $169-187 depending on the discount). Sits between budget foam paddles (Rhombus Quanta ≈$99) and the premium Selkirk Boomstick (≈$333).

Widebody specs

≈8.0-8.1 oz static, swing weight ≈108-110, twist weight 7.3 (highest, most forgiving), 16x8 in, 5.3 in handle.

Hybrid specs

≈8.0 oz static, swing weight ≈112-115, twist weight ≈6.65-6.75, 16.2x7.6 in, 5.3 in handle.

Elongated specs

≈7.8-8.0 oz static, swing weight ≈118-123 (runs heavy), twist weight ≈6.05-6.28, ≈16.5 in, 5.5 in handle.

Warranty

6 months to 1 year (multiple reviewers note Selkirk's acquisition extended it toward 1 year), versus the Boomstick's lifetime. USAPA-approved, not UPA-approved.

02 · Where reviewers agree

The consensus

The reviews are remarkably aligned on the paddle's character. Disagreement is about magnitude and fit, not direction.

  1. It is a genuine power paddleAcross 40+ reviews the verdict is consistent — elite-to-top-tier power and pop. Matt's Pickleball clocked 90th-95th percentile serve speeds (59.4-60.2 mph); Johnkew put firepower meta scores at 92 (elongated), 94 (hybrid), 84 (widebody).
  2. Big, forgiving sweet spotRepeatedly the single most-praised trait. The foam core makes off-center hits playable; the widebody is "all sweet spot." A few flagged dead spots only on the extreme top corners.
  3. Top-tier spinMeasured RPMs cluster 2,074-2,285 across reviewers (Farmer Lanky: 2,194/2,175/2,212; Matt's: 2,270-2,285; All Drive No Drop: 2,253). The gritty raw-carbon peel-ply grabs the ball.
  4. The Boomstick is the benchmark, and the Loco gets close for far lessThis comparison appears in nearly every review. Pickleball Tech Dude: "85 to 90% of the Boomstick's performance." West Side: nearly identical power, $153 cheaper.
  5. Plays well stock; rewards a little side weightMost found it good out of the box, with headroom to add 3-5g at 3 and 9 o'clock to widen the sweet spot and smooth the feel.
  6. Hybrid is the safe pick, widebody the sleeper, elongated the divisive oneThe hybrid is most often named "Goldilocks." The widebody wins sweet spot and hand speed. The elongated runs heavy and drew the only real "skip it" notes.

03 · Where they disagree

The genuine disputes

This is where the roundup earns its keep. These aren't magnitude quibbles — reviewers land on opposite sides.

Dispute 1 — Is it controllable, or does it run away from you?The split is by player level, and reviewers say so explicitly. The Pickleball Dad (unsponsored, ~10 hrs) found resets and dinks a "significant weakness" — popped soft shots for hours — and would NOT give it to a 3.0-3.5 player. Pickleball Tech Dude agrees: "difficult to control for recreational players or those under 4.0." Yet Pickleball Studio rates soft-game confidence 8-9/10 (vs 7 for the Boomstick), and TechYeti's John Torres calls its dink-battle stability better than dedicated control paddles. Reconciliation: it's a power paddle that is unusually controllable for advanced players, and genuinely hard for lower-level players who can't supply their own touch.
Dispute 2 — Does the grit last, or wear smooth?All Drive No Drop's first review is the sharpest knock: fresh grit is elite, but it "wears smooth over time and spin drops off," with no permagrit like the Spartus P1. West Side and another reviewer noticed grit fading after 3-4 hours. Counterpoint: Pickleball Tech Dude says Loco grit "has been consistently higher than all the named competitors, so spin may last longer," and STS reported solid grit durability after ~2 months. James Ignatowich splits the difference — "normal peel-ply that wears down like any other; no special long-lasting grit."
Dispute 3 — Is $199 a steal or just fine?Most call it a value home run: Farmer Lanky says it could sell for $280-330 like Selkirk; West Side calls it "the gold standard for Gen 4 on price-to-performance." Dissent comes from direct head-to-heads — Pickleball Rx (Don) concluded the similarly-priced Arronax Thunder "does every little thing the Loco does, but a little bit better," and Pickle Li notes Bread & Butter has "historically been slightly pricier than other paddles with similar performance." Versus the budget Rhombus Quanta (~$99), it's twice the money — worth it only if you don't want to mod a paddle.
Dispute 4 — The warranty and the elongated shapeTwo recurring negatives. The warranty: 6 months on several units versus the Boomstick's lifetime (Loc Luong, Pickleball Studio, Matt's, and All Drive/Jacob all flag it; some note the Selkirk acquisition pushed it toward 1 year). The elongated shape: Pickleball Effect's Brandon flat-out preferred the Boomstick in elongated ("its numbers are better, more forgiving"); Pickleball Studio called the 123 swing weight "creeping into heavy-paddle territory."

04 · The anchor

Johnkew Pickleball, the lab-tested verdict

Johnkew measures things — swing weights, twist weights, meta scores, QC core numbers — which makes this the source to weight most when the marketing fog rolls in. His read is enthusiastic but not uncritical, and notably this is one of the few reviews that names a real personal reservation.

Power

Elite. Firepower meta scores 92 (elongated) / 94 (hybrid) / 84 (widebody); QC core 0.41-0.42 (high-power category); power/pop percentiles in the high 80s-90s.

Spin

Solid, ≈1,850-2,150 RPM, spin meta scores in the 70s; "never felt starved for spin on court."

Stock swing weights

121.4 elongated, 115 hybrid, 109 widebody.

Feel

Crisp, stiff, hollow with fiberglass snap. Stiffer/more hollow than the Honolulu J2NF, not quite as much as the Boomstick.

His pick

Hybrid — "more juice than the widebody but more forgiveness and maneuverability than the elongated."

The Loco is an elite, high-power full-foam paddle with a wide sweet spot and a crisp, stiff feel that competes with the Boomstick at over $100 less — best for players comfortable with elite power, but not ideal for those who struggle to control high-power paddles.— Johnkew Pickleball
The honest reservationJohnkew is one of the few reviewers who didn't fully fall in line with the hype: he personally found the Loco's pop "a bit more unpredictable and harder to tame than the Boomstick," likely from the fiberglass layer, and struggled with midcourt resets early on — while noting most people won't share that opinion. He says the widebody's oversized sweet spot solves the pop-control problem.

05 · The independent voices

Unsponsored, hands-on

Roughly 20 of the 41 reviews carried no sponsorship or brand-supplied disclosure. They skew slightly more critical and are worth their weight.

  1. The Pickleball DadThe most useful dissent. After ~10 hours: outstanding power and spin, but resets/dinks a real weakness and "almost no feel on soft shots." Recommends 4.0+ only; would not hand it to a 3.0-3.5 player.
  2. TechYeti — John TorresUsed it as his main since October; chooses it over the Boomstick for tournaments on control and dink stability, conceding the Boomstick wins raw power and spin. Plays the elongated best stock.
  3. JJ Pickleball"The best performance foam-core paddle on the market," rivaling the Boomstick at a much lower price; notes the Boomstick still has a larger sweet spot.
  4. Pickleball Tech Dude — RafaMaybe the best floating-core Gen 4 paddle; "85-90% of the Boomstick" and much easier to control; beats the Quanta for anyone who won't mod.
  5. West Side Pickleball (several videos)Power ~9/10 vs Boomstick's 9.5-10; better spin and softer game than the Boomstick; "best price-to-performance Gen 4 paddle right now" — but in two head-to-heads ultimately picked rivals (the J2NF-beating but J6CR-losing, and the Friday Aura Pro on dwell/spin/control).
  6. Salt N Pepper — JavanniTwo months, two extra hard-hitting testers, no dings or dead spots; pick-up-and-play with no break-in. Best for intermediate-and-up, not a beginner's first real paddle.
  7. Ignatowich HQ — James IgnatowichPro perspective. Second-favorite full-foam paddle, behind the Boomstick and ahead of the Honolulu J6R; elite pop, decent (not amazing) resets — and he still prefers the Boomstick overall.
  8. Pickleball Studio (first-impressions, unsponsored cut)"Plays like a J2NF with the pop and power cranked up," great value at $180, no real weakness — but existing foam-core owners needn't upgrade.

07 · Bottom line

Who should buy it

  1. Buy it ifYou're a 4.0+ / intermediate-and-up player who can supply your own touch, you want elite power, pop, and spin with a big forgiving sweet spot, and you want ~85-90% of a Selkirk Boomstick for $100-150 less. Get the hybrid if unsure; the widebody for max forgiveness and hand speed.
  2. Skip it ifYou're a 3.0-3.5 player still building a soft game (the consensus is it'll punish you), you want a plush/dwelly control paddle, you need a lifetime warranty, or you already own a Boomstick, J2NF, or Quanta and like it. Power purists and singles players may still prefer the Boomstick's bigger sweet spot and extra pop.
  3. The honest readThe Loco is the rare paddle where the hype and the measurements mostly agree — it really is a top-tier, high-value full-foam power paddle. The two legitimate asterisks are grit longevity (mixed reports) and the short warranty. It is not the magic do-everything paddle the sponsored verdicts imply; it's an excellent, controllable-for-its-class power paddle that happens to be priced like a value pick.
How this page was builtSynthesized from 41 YouTube reviews of the Bread & Butter Loco that had usable transcripts (two additional videos had no transcript and were excluded). 21 of the 41 were sponsored, affiliate-driven, or used brand-supplied paddles — so non-sponsored and lab-tested voices were weighted most heavily, with Johnkew Pickleball as the measurement anchor. These are the top ~42 reviews by viewership, not every Loco review in existence; a higher-viewed clip or a future long-term durability test could shift the grit and warranty calls.

08 · Sources

All 42 reviews

Every review analyzed for this roundup, grouped by independence. Independent / not sponsored (21):

Sponsored, giveaway, brand, or affiliate (21) — read with a discount: