Bread & Butter Filth Paddle Review (Feel, Power, Spin, Control)

Are you looking for a thermoformed paddle that perfectly fits your game? Bread & Butter’s The Filth could be it.

This is a paddle review that I’ve been looking forward to writing because it’s one of the better thermoformed paddles that I’ve played with in 2024.

No, it won’t be the right paddle for every player. But it’s an ideal choice for a number of players, namely those who favor:

• A powerful, true Gen. 2 16mm thermoformed build
• An elongated paddle face
• A lengthy 5.5″ handle that provides ample real estate for two-handed backhands
• Eye-catching aesthetics

A similar paddle to compare the Filth to would be the CRBN 1X 16mm, as it has the same dimensions and plays similarly. There are significant differences between the Filth and the CRBN X series, though, which I’ll be dissecting in this review.

Alright, let’s dive in.

Bread & Butter Filth Technical Specifications

• Price: $165 ($140.25 with code DASHPB.)
• Shape: Elongated
• Core thickness: 16mm
• Face: Nano T700 Raw Carbon Fiber
• Average weight: 8 oz
• Grip length: 5.5″
• Swing Weight: 125
• Grip size: 4.25″
• Core: High-density polypropylene honeycomb
• Total length: 16.5″
• Width: 7.375″
• Warranty: 30-day “Love it or Return it” policy & 6-month for manufacturer defects

Bread & Butter Filth Quick Summary

Bread & Butter’s The Filth is their self-described elite paddle. The Filth is a fully Gen. 2 thermoformed paddle, featuring hot-mold thermoforming, edge-foam injections, and a raw T-700 carbon fiber face.

The Filth certainly delivers on its “elite” status. It has great power, pop, touch, spin, and durability. It’s crisp and lively, delivering a unique and responsive form of power, pop, and controllability.

The Filth’s design matches all of my preferences. I like elongated paddles due to their reach and higher sweet spot. I also prefer the 5.5″ handle length of the Filth, as it’s ideal for two-handed backhands and adding extra whip on shots.

The aesthetics of the Filth are also top-notch. The main graphics are pleasing and clever, while the logo and wording are subtle and drop into the background, giving it a clean minimalist look that oozes quality.

The only thing missing from the Filth is the soft touch and feel that you get from a Gen. 1 raw carbon fiber paddle. This is, of course, a tradeoff you must adapt to when opting for the power and pop provided by a Gen. 2 thermoform paddle

Overall, The Filth matched my expectations in certain areas and exceeded them in others.

Now, let’s dive into the specifics of The Filth.

Handle/grip feel

While some paddles take some adjusting to, the Filth felt good in my hand the moment I picked it up and started playing with it.

The octagonal shape of the grip makes it more rounded, so you don’t feel the edges of the paddle quite like you would with a more square handle, but it’s ultimately a trade-off that’s worth it.

Boxy handles are going out of style, which is great. I really wanted to like the Electrum Model E Elite more, but the square-shaped handle just keeps me from using mine.

The 4.25″ thickness of the handle is also ideal. It’s small enough to be comfortable for the smallest hands, and you can easily add overgrips to it for added thickness and weight. I personally use one overgrip on my Filth.

The 5.5″ handle length is perfect for me and will be a great fit for most players. It’s the right length for two-handed backhands and feels good even for those who don’t use two hands on their backhand. You can really whip it and hit hard with this handle length.

Shape & weight distribution

Both of my Filth paddles are well-balanced. While the weight variance can be between 8.0 and 8.4 ounces, both of mine came in on the light end at 8.0 and 8.1 oz. Neither is head heavy, though I have heard some Filth players say that theirs were slightly head heavy (though not a complaint).

The light and balanced feel of my Filths enabled me to toy around with adding weight for different performance adjustments. Overall, no complaints about weight & weight distribution with this paddle.

How it feels contacting the ball

The Filth feels crisp and lively to hit with. It feels similar to my Six Zero Black Diamond, which is also crisp and slightly less poppy than its earlier iterations.

Like other thermoforms, the Filth is stiff and has a good deal of pop. It’s not excessively poppy, though. It’s uniquely lively yet plush in certain ways. It’s definitely not muted feeling, but I like the controllability. Hard to describe.

Power

The Filth has a lot of power. My serves, drives, overheads, putaways, counters, punch volleys, rolls and speed-ups all felt crispy, smooth, and plenty deadly with the Filth.

The Filth’s power output will be more than enough for most players. Depth and pace come almost too easy. It takes a moment to dial in, but once you adjust, it feels so damn good to rip effortless drives with it.

Compared to other Gen. 2 thermoformed paddles, I felt that only the Vatic Pro V7 and Six Zero Black Diamond, and CRBN 1X 14mm hit harder than the Filth. Some Legacy Pros might hit harder, but my two Legacys are on the softer side.

Since The Filth comes lightweight and balanced, you can feel free to add weight for more power, if desired.

Pop

As mentioned, The Filth is highly crisp and responsive. It’s plenty stiff and you don’t have to swing much to get a lot of pop. It’s definitely more poppy than my thermoformed Ronbus R3 Pulsar.

Being 16mm thick, my drives with The Filth felt a little more plush than softer hits. My drops and dinks in particular had plenty of pop. For some, this can make The Filth hard to control, but I’ve learned to really enjoy a poppy paddle for my control game.

Control

The topic of control can be a bit tricky when it comes to Gen. 2 thermoformed paddles. The conventional paddle traits that we think of that lend to control are softness, plushness, and an overall forgiving feel.

For the most part, the Filth is neither soft nor plush. It has a stiff and highly responsive paddle face that’s consistent yet can feel unforgiving to some players. I’ve grown to prefer these Gen. 2 thermoformed paddles for my control game. I prefer the crisp and responsive feel over the soft and mushy feel of Gen. 1 control paddles.

While The Filth is a pretty stiff boy, it’s nevertheless become one of my favorite paddles in this regard. I find The Filth the second easiest to control thermoform in my arsenal, behind my Ronbus Pulsar. And Six Zero’s Double Black Diamond is a close third.

The Filth is precise and responsive and has a large sweet spot for an elongated paddle. The edge-foam injections in the Filth really deliver. I was just playing the Joola Perseus side by side with my Filth today, and the sweet spot on The Filth felt way better.

The combination of The Filth’s sensitive response, lightweight maneuverability, and consistent pop and accuracy gives me a lot of confidence on drops and at the net dinking and engaging in hand battles. My roll volleys, speed-ups, and punch volleys feel very precise and controlled.

Its smooth and intuitive feel makes my soft game feel dialed in on drops and resets while also giving me the power to smash counters and speed-ups on demand. I really enjoy third shots with The Filth for this reason, as it handles drops and drives seamlessly.

Adding lead tape to the throat of The Filth really increases my stability and control, as well.

Spin

The Filth is using similar spin-enhancing surface technologies as Vatic Pro, Legacy Pro, Ronbus, Six Zero, and Volair. That is to say, it’s in the top tier of spin performance.

Some of those paddles felt that they have slightly more spin than the Filth, but the differences are marginal, and mostly attributed to the Filth’s crisp poppy feel that lends to less dwell time. The Filth made my list of the best high-spin-producing paddles.

I have zero problem ripping slices and shaping shots like crazy with The Filth. The paddle face really maximizes friction, as evidenced by all of the ball dust that it rips off and sticks to the paddle surface as soon as you start playing with it.

If you want to feel like you’re literally grabbing the ball and ripping it across the court with your top and under spin, then The Filth will deliver.

Hand speed

I found The Filth to be very nimble and maneuverable for an elongated Gen. 2 paddles. It’s light and quick feel make it great for hand battles. I felt more confident at the net with The Filth than with a number of other elongated paddles that I’ve used.

I’ve seen talk that some Filth paddles are on the head-heavy side and have a high swing weight. That was not the experience I had with my two Filths. This could be due to manufacturing differences, but I’ve also heard from other players who own more recent models of the Filth that their paddle was lightweight.

The well-balanced quality of the Filth makes it not need lead tape, which means you don’t have to sacrifice hand speed and maneuverability by adding weighted tape if you don’t want to.

Durability

The Filth is a thermoformed paddle, so there is a risk of delamination, disbonding, and core crushing. I haven’t heard reports of widespread issues with The Filth, but there’s always that added risk with Gen. 2 paddles.

All in all, the build quality of the paddle feels top-notch and I haven’t experienced any issues with it. I will update this post if I run into any durability issues with Bread & Butter paddles.

Value

The Filth is a great value for its category. At $140.25 with discount code DASHPB, it’s one of the better values for a Gen. 2 thermoformed elongated paddle with a 5.5″ grip.

It definitely beats out the similarly categorized CRBN Power Series which costs north of $200. CRBN’s thermoformed paddles are also plagued with delamination issues and don’t have as appealing of a warranty as The Filth.

Should you buy Bread & Butter’s The Filth?

If you like the idea of an elongated-faced thermoformed paddle with a long 5.5″ handle, then, yeah, you should definitely purchase your own discounted Filth today. I keep two on hand at all times (one unweighted for doubles, one weighted up for singles)

The Filth has great power, consistent control, top-tier spin, lively pop, and is plenty agile for quick hands. Everyone I’ve lent out my two Filths to has loved it and wanted to buy one right away, and most of them pulled the trigger the same day. The Filth’s great aesthetics are definitely the icing on the cake.

I’d definitely pick up The Filth over the CRBN 1X. It plays crisper, has more durability, and is much cheaper than the CRBN.

The only other paddle I’d potentially recommend over The Filth in this category is Ronbus’s R3 Pulsar. They’re similar, but the Ronbus is a little more soft and plush with slightly less power output. I personally love both paddles and switch between them often.

The Legacy Pro is also a good option, but their production consistency has been a bit erratic. The Legacy’s handle is also slightly shorter in real-world usage compared to The Filth