Squid Industries Krake Raken V3

 

The V3 Kraken in stock config is NOT very similar to the live balance. This can be fixed with the pictured Zippy inserts, but overall the V3 Kraken is much closer to the V2.5 trainer balance than anything else. It is still a good product and a great flipper, but it's disappointing that we STILL need to purchase additional third-party accessories to achieve the live Kraken balance.

I wish I hadn't sold my Hourglass yet so I could prove this, but the V3 Kraken without any inserts weighs 4.21oz. My old Hourglass Kraken weighed 4.32oz, which is notably more. And AFAIK, the live Krakens weigh ~4.33oz while V2.5 Kraken trainers weigh ~4.19oz. So just going off of weights alone, the V3 is clearly much closer to the V2.5. Zippy's product page for his inserts also confirms this, pegging the V2.5 and V3 trainers at within ~0.02oz (or ~0.5g) of each other.

Also, I haven't disassembled my Kraken yet to double-check this, but I am fairly certain handle weight was virtually unchanged with the V3 revisions. However, I did check the balance point on my Hourglass V2.5 vs the V3 (again, I stupidly forgot to take a picture) and the V3 was indeed more handle-biased.

Subjectively, I can confirm that the flipping feel of the V3 (again, without inserts) was very different from how my Hourglass felt. It simply felt noticeably more handle-biased, and most notably contributed to less even (and more effortful) fanning.

With the pictured Zippy insert config, I'm able to get within ~0.01oz of my Hourglass build and, subjectively, an indistinguishable flipping experience. It should go without saying, but I definitely enjoy this a lot more than stock.

In fairness to the V3, I have been told by multiple sources that the stock flipping experience is still better than the stock V2.5 due to improved weight distribution. And the new jimping/texturing are welcome improvements.

But it's still a stretch to claim that this is "closer" to the live balance. It's just objectively not (and even if it is technically "closer" it's still far more similar to the V2.5 in comparison).

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