ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

Rules

Keep it ergo

Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

No Spam

No excessive posting/"shilling" for commercial purposes. Vendors are permitted to promote their products/services but keep it to a minimum and use the [vendor] flair. Posts that appear to be marketing without being transparent about it will be removed.

No Buy/Sell/Trade

This subreddit is not a marketplace, please post on r/mechmarket or other relevant marketplace.

Some useful links

EMK wiki
Split keyboard compare tool
Compare keycap profiles Looking for another set of keycaps - check this site to compare the different keycap profiles https://www.keycaps.info/
Keymap database A database with all kinds of keymap layouts - some of them fits ergo keyboards - get inspired https://keymapdb.com/

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Has your ergomechkeyboard helped you recover from RSI pain? (self.ergomechkeyboards)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by seltzered to c/ergomechkeyboards

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hi, I've been meaning to make a travel-friendly ergonomic keyboard setup for a couple years ago after starting /r/ergomobilecomputers, so far just been on a raised tablet setup with a regular keyboard (a setup I've enjoyed, but will confess I've some slight pain from using a standard keyboard with it)

What kinds of recovery stories have you experienced yourself or heard from others in using a certain ergomechkeyboard?

Were there things outside of having a more ergonomic setup that helped (i.e. just better sleep, diet, hygiene, mood) too?

Basically curious to hear some stories of how these things have helped fellow jank-embracers!

I did try searching around the original sub for 'pain' and 'rsi' but feel like it may be worth asking again on here.

UPDATE: Thanks again for all the stories so far both here and on the related reddit thread! Made me revise a brainstorm keyboard idea that could facilitate redirecting pinky use on the left control key + right arrow keys to something that uses the thumb + index finger instead.

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[–] danieldk 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I had wrist pains every now and then over the years. They never felt bad enough so find a doctor, so it never had a specific diagnosis.

Then I had a worse brush with wrist pain I decided to try several split keyboards (Microsoft Sculpt on and off, Kinesis Freestyle Edge, Ferris Sweep, Kyria) and they didn't really improve things and sometimes gave me new pains. Only after switching to a Kinesis Advantage2 I saw large improvements and wrist pains mostly going away.

I also started to be more mindful of taking breaks (sometimes it works out, sometimes I am so focused that time flies by) and do some hand exercises during breaks. I also got an easily adjustable standing desk (just a press of the button), so I can tune it to have exactly the right height and switch between sitting and standing.