Quick Thoughts on the Selkirk Labs Project 005 & 006

Author

Chris Olson
June 23, 2023

What’s up, guys? Next week is the Selkirk Labs Project 005 and 006 launch! My review of the 006 will be done on Tuesday and 005 will be Wednesday. Now that the early access is live for Labs members, I’ll give you some early thoughts.

Selkirk Labs Project 006 Thoughts

Specs:

  • Price: $333 (Use code ADV-PBSTUDIO to receive a $40 gift card)

  • Thickness: 16mm

  • Weight range: 8.3-8.7oz

  • Shape: Elongated

  • Handle length: 5.75”

  • Grip circumference: 4.25”

  • Face: Raw carbon fiber

  • Core: Polymer

  • Swing weight: 117 (I checked 3 paddles, two 117 one was 118)

  • RPM: 2141

  • Warranty: 2 years

  • Additional features:

    • 360 proto molding

    • Foam injected edge wall.

I’ve been enjoying the Selkirk Labs Project 006 the last month and a half or so. I’m still trying to finish my review for Tuesday, so I’m going to keep this brief.

The 006 is not a revolutionary paddle. In my eyes, it’s a catch up paddle. It’s a thermoformed raw carbon fiber paddle with some of the best spin in the game.

It doesn’t hit as hard as the other thermos, I’d say it’s one of the softer ones on the market. Still has more power than a gen 1 raw carbon, but it isn’t on the same level as a CRBN1X.

I would place it in my top 5 favorite paddles, however, the price point is really high…there’s plenty of options on the market now that can get you a comparable paddle for nearly half the price.

On the other hand, I think a lot of people are going to really like this and it’s probably one of Selkirk’s best paddles to date. They finally have a pro paddle with high spin, and a long handle.

Previously Selkirk really only had power paddles or control paddles. There wasn’t much of a middle ground.

One additional thought, don’t let the weight scare you. I was curious how that would play out, but with three of my 006s being 117 and 118, you don’t have to worry about this being a repeat of the Hyperion where it was just way too head heavy. I never found it to feel that slow in my hand.

Those are my quick thoughts on the 006.

Selkirk Labs 005 Thoughts

Specs:

  • Price: $222 (Use code ADV-PBSTUDIO to receive a $30 gift card)

  • Thickness: 16mm

  • Weight range: 7.7-8.1oz

  • Shape: Standard & elongated

  • Handle length:

    • S2: 4.65”

    • Epic: 5.25”

    • Invikta 5.25”

  • Grip circumference: 4.25”

  • Face: Fiberglass

  • Core: Polymer

  • Swing weight:

    • Epic: 107

    • S2: No data

    • Invikta: 120

  • RPM:

    • Epic: 1738

    • S2: No data

    • Invikta: 1449

  • Additional features:

    • 360 protomolding

    • Injected edge foam wall.

On paper, the 005 is interesting. It appears to be an Amped 2.0 or Amped Pro because of the fiberglass face.

In reality, it plays very, very similar to a Power Air if you ask me. I would say it’s at least 70-80% of the same feel that the Power Air has. Perhaps just more solid feeling.

In theory, this would be great. Everyone has been asking for a thicker Power Air, but it plays so similar to the 13mm Power Air as it stands. Probably because the all fiberglass face is generating more power than the fiberglass carbon fiber blend that the Power Air uses.

It has the same small sweet spot, kind of feels like a board, and at the edges, the feel is very off putting.

I’m not sure why my Invikta RPM was so much lower, but it was very obvious in game play that it was lower than my Epic. Perhaps just a lower amount of grit on my Invikta. Not sure.

I don’t think the 005 is bad. I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy it, but it’s not unique or distinct enough from the Power Air for me to go crazy about it. I think this is for people who liked the Power Air and want a very, very mildly toned down version of that. If you didn’t like how the Power Air felt, I don’t think you will enjoy the 005.

I do find it odd that Selkirk decided to go back to the 5.25” handle for the Invikta on the 005 instead of going with their updated handle length that they were testing for the 003. I haven’t been a fan of the Invikta shorter handle in the past. Completely subjective, but I think more people appreciate that small extra handle area on the 003.

For those wondering, the 005 feels more aggressive than the 006 when attacking.

More thoughts to come in the full reviews.

Thanks for reading!