The Pepyakka 3.0 is a fidget spinner by Custom Knife factory (CKF) in Russia. As the name suggests it is the third instalment of the foray into the world of high end spinners. They made a name for themselves in the spinner market with their first spinner, and have applied the same principles of unique design and multiple pieces to all their spinners since. They have also stuck with the same name throughout, which for westerners can be incredibly hard to spell and pronounce. Is it Pepper Terriaki? Is there one k in pepyaka, or two? And what the heck even is a pepyakka.
Whilst I can’t answer the question of what the word means, I can take an in depth look at the spinner itself.
Pepyakka 3.0 price
The pepyakka 3 costs $225 and that includes shipping. This makes it one of the most expensive spinners on the market that doesn’t have any exotic materials in it. Most other companies only break the $150 mark when they are bringing in exotic or rare metals.
What is refreshing about the Pepyakka is that it is clear to see why it costs so much. The spinner can be dismantled into its constituent parts, of which there are 15. When you can see all of the different pieces that need to be machined and constructed it is far easier to see where the price tag comes from. As well as being able to see the build quality and design of the spinner.
Unfortunately there were 2,888 of these made. And while this makes it easier to obtain one, and for some people that is a positive, when you are spending $200+ on a spinner, a little more exclusivity and rarity would be nice.
Bearing and Wobble
It is the sad 
reality of CKF spinners that we need to address the quality issues. When you buy a Pepyakka spinner, you are not only parting with a lot of cash, but you are also partaking in a sort of lottery. A lottery to find out if you’ll get a good spinner or not.
A lot of the spinners come with unshielded bearings (meaning the balls in the bearing are free to move around) not only does this mean shorter spin times, but they can also hit into each other and make a noise. However, this is not all the spinners, as some come with a regular shielded bearing and spin just fine. Why all of the spinners don’t have the same bearing remains to be seen, but it seems to be a 50/50 chance as to which you will get.
It is possible to change out the bearing on your Pepyakka, though you will need a watch press tool for that.
The other issue is the wobble. This is due to the weights on the end of the spinner arms not being exactly the same. It only takes a tiny amount of weight difference to cause wobble, and with as many parts as these spinners have, the risk of weight differences increases.
The good news is that the wobble can be remedied 90% of the time by just rearranging the weights and finding a setup that is nice and balanced. It’s just a bit of a shame that this hasn’t been done in the production stage. Though, with 2,888 of them being made, this would represent a huge undertaking.
Spin time
This Is obviously liked to the issues with bearings, and which one comes in your spinner. Custom Knife Factory guarantee at least a minute and a half of spin time which should be plenty. Mine came out of the box and spins for 3:30-4:00 minutes, though this seems to be the upper limit of the spin times.
Spin quality
Once you get your Pepyakka balanced, and with a decent bearing, the spin quality is pretty good. It sounds wrong to say that you need to balance and change the bearing to get a good spin quality. However, the design and weight distribution has a lot to do with the quality of the spin.
As it is quite wide (when compared to the likes of a Rotablade stubby or other bar spinners) there is a rather large gyroscopic effect when you move the axis of the spinner. However, holding it flat or vertical it spins smooth and has a good amount of feedback.
Design
The design of the Pepyakka is really the main selling point. The aeronautical look and black and gold colour scheme are completely what sold me when I first saw the spinner, and I love it more the more I look at it.
There are tritium vials on the side, which glow no matter whether it is night or day, as they don’t rely on “charging”. The Pepyakka 3 comes with only green vials, it’s a shame there is no choice of colour, but its forgivable as the green works really well and looks great when spinning.
The grips are the next big selling point for the Pepyakka. All too often companies make great looking spinners and neglect the grips, instead settling for a bland off the shelf look. That is not the case with the Pepyakka, as they have custom CKF grips and they look great.
Overview
If you can get one of the good ones, or are willing to perhaps change your bearing and balance it, then this is one of the best spinners going. 
Yes, it’s a shame that that is even an option with a spinner that costs over $200, but in my opinion it is completely worth it. I judge which my favourite spinner is by which one I go to pick up time and time again. Even with a multitude of different spinner, I just keep coming back to the Pepyakka.
You can buy Pepyakka spinners on the Custom Knife Factory website
Check out the pictures of the next spinners from CKF, the 4.0 and the S
