Looking for some testimonials on these setups as I’m due for a keyboard upgrade. I like the thought of spreading my arms a bit more and the external wrist rotation from the tenting. Any suggestions?
I was the IT Director for a company that had a lot of data entry people. I had noticed that the keyboards that they were using were mostly plain jane, mismatched, membrane keyboards. After a bit of back and forth with purchasing I convinced the company to purchase a ton of mechanical (cherry reds), split ergonomic keyboards.
Within a month RSI reports were down by 95% and after 2 months were essentially nonexistent. I also noticed that people had stopped wearing wrist braces as well. I paired this with good, well shaped mice that would hopefully lead to less fatigue with repetitive motion.
My sample size is tiny, but there are 30 some odd people who if asked, would back me up on this. So while not thoroughly scientifically proven, I am willing to say that ergonomic keyboards do make a big difference. I think mechanical makes a pretty big difference too. Cherry reds activate with very little pressure and, imo, make typing long documents or notes much less annoying/stressful/painful/
@improbablynotarobot I own several split keyboards at this point and very much prefer them. I have RSI and it’s much more comfortable to type and helps keep my wrists at a comfortable angle.
As for tenting I haven’t experimented with it much, but I know that a lot of people swear by it.
I have bi-lateral carpaltunnel (Mild left, moderate right) and have found it greatly managed in my life as a heavy computer user for work and pleasure by changing my keyboard to the Kinesis Advantage 2. This is an expensive keyboard that definitely isn’t in a lot of people’s range but thankfully work was able to get it for me to prevent further RSI.
I swear by this damn keyboard though. The split and boxy design perfectly aligns to my shoulder width, and my arms out in front of me rest very comfortably on the pads below each hand-well. The keys are ortholinear meaning instead of the usual QWERTY keyboards having a slight staggering of the keys (and thus, at least for me, I have a lot of micro-adjusting of my hands and wrist as I’m typing) the keys being aligned straight up and down where my fingers are resting means all I have to do is flex my fingers foward and back to hit the proper key. Having the very often used keys on my thumbs (backspace/delete/enter/control/alt/windows+CMD key) mean no more stretching out my pinky to push it.
Far more affordable options include the Iris split keyboards that are DIY in a kit (you provide your own key switches), which I’ve had my eye on for a long while but could never seem to tear myself away from the advantage 2. Since I’ve been issued a new laptop with work that is a lot thinner and easier to work out of a coffeeshop or drop-in desk somewhere with, I might start revisiting that conversation.
For completeness sake - I use a logitec Ergo M575 trackball mouse. I grew up laughing at a family member who worked in tech for using this kind of mouse back when it was that ball of clay and an optical sensor. I’m not laughing anymore now that I have to use it so my hands don’t hurt from work at by the end of the day 😭
I’m a DevOps Engineer and thus, I spend 8+ hours at a keyboard a day… I finally decided that I should spend some money on a device i was going to use that much of my life and I now have two Iris’s I built. I’m using one to write this that I made last year so i could leave the one I built back in 2019 at the office. Both were v2’s. I can’t recommend them enough. Takes a little getting used to as you’ll want to figure out your layers and play with QMK for things like adding a numpad under a layer and adding in special keys and macro’s and such, but It’s been well worth it. My wrist pain completely went away. Between that and either logitech trackball, It’s been a great setup for 4yrs now and I can’t go back to normal keyboards for any decent amount of time before starting to feel sore. FWIW, the new Iris Rev 7’s make it so there’s almost no soldering or anything.
My setup is Tented as well, and I made matching wrist wrests to match the contour and tenting angles.
Technical Details:
I used my original Iris for 3 yrs before deciding I should use what I had laying around to make this one. I bought two sets of PCB’s when I originally got the v2’s as it was my first mechanical keyboard build and I didn’t want to worry about screwing it up. But I didn’t have any issues, so I had another set of PCBs laying around that whole time. I decided for this one I’d go all out and make a custom bottom of walnut and I had laser cut brass top plates. I also used Millmax sockets for the keyswitches so they’re hot-swappable. Then, since the v2’s still require your to solder your own Arduino Pro Micro’s, I swapped those out for nice!nano’s so it’s fully BlueTooth wireless both between the halves and to the PC. I’ve filled it with Hako Trues and MT3 White-on-Black doubleshot keycaps. So far, I’ll say the True’s are a bit stiff sometimes, but I still quite enjoy typing on this thing.
Yeah the split seems more justifiable but tenting seems ergonomic too. Curious at to if you leverage extra thumb keys or dynamic switching of rows too. Seems like it has a learning curve but I like the idea of keeping closer to home row
@improbablynotarobot I do! My main keyboard is an Ergodox, and I make heavy use of the extra thumb keys. Having enter/del/backspace on my thumbs alone is really nice, and I also keep a layer toggle next to them. Commonly used keys, like my navigation cluster and a numpad stay close to the home row on two different layers.
The one thing I don’t make much use of is symbols on layers, which takes a bit more getting used to than I’ve put time in for. Instead I just use the dedicated number row.
I’ve been usung a Moonlander for a couple of months after a friend at work lent me his Ergodox EZ. The learning curve for someone who’d been trying freestyle for 30 years was tough, but I definitely prefer it now I’m accustomed.
Most ergo keyboard users are somewhat zealous, so if you know someone who uses one, they may be happy to lend you one on a temp basis.
I’ve got a Moonlander I’ve been using on and off for a while now, it’s hard to fully commit when I’m so comfortable typing on a 60% or 65%.
Agreed about people lending, I’ve let coworkers and friends borrow keyboards and even let some friends keep them because I have too many.
I’m not a big fan. I am somewhat of an outsider with a preference for trackballs over mice, though. MX ERGO FTW
While I do not use tenting or physically split keyboards, I have been using ergonomic split keyboards for ~16 years. Not sure if that exactly fits the category you are looking at.
The specific keyboards have been the Microsoft natural ergonomic keyboard 4000, Microsoft Sculpt, and Logitech ERGO K860. I’ve been gaming on the PC since the early 90s and have been in IT and software development for ~26 years.
I have had no issues with carpal tunnel or RSI. While I obviously cannot say it was 100% due to the split keyboard design I believe it has likely helped to keep those issues at bay. Once you are used to a split keyboard design you can feel the pitch and stress on your wrists when using a standard keyboard. I have also always used the riser that rises the wrist end of the keyboard so you fingers are sort of “falling” down toward the keys.
I used that Microsoft 4000 keyboard for years, cleaned out the membrane on it 2 or 3 times before I had to replace the entire keyboard. Then was left hunting for something to replace it; I tried a lot of keyboards. In the end I’ve settled on the Logitech K860.
I have a pretty similar bio except I’m not into gaming. I will say the feeling of going to a non-split keyboard is immediate now. I’m at a phase in my career where I’m in meetings all day so I don’t mind it was much when it happens but a few years ago I’d be having wrist pain after a couple of hours of working on a standard keyboard.
I tried the sculpt as well but found it was having issues with key repeat or just losing connectivity so I went back to a wired keyboard (MS Natural).
Any thoughts on why the Logitech is better or were you just ready for a change?
I had the exact same issue with the Microsoft Sculpt, it would disconnect much too often. There is a setting in Windows that sort of helped it but not fully. I also missed the standard cursor keys placement (home/end/pg) and the number pad as I will often punch in some numbers or even hit the enter key over there just to mix it up a bit.
The Logitech is a full width/key keyboard so cursor manipulation muscle memory is great, that was something I was still getting used to on the Sculpt. The Logitech does not disconnect as much as the Sculpt and there are no repeat key presses, it does however still disconnect at times and it is most obvious when trying to copy or paste. Overall the Logitech is the board I like best since the natural 4000.
If there was pie in the sky I’d like a full key, ergonomic split, wired, and hot swap keys so I can just fix any key that has an issue in the future. I searched high and low for that combination and haven’t found one that checks all the boxes. There are split mechanical keyboards but they are always missing a feature like: not hot swap, short the cursor keys, have shuffled the cursor keys, or dropped the number pad. There is one mechanical keyboard that comes extremely close but the keys are not hot swap.
I bought a moonlander by ZSA about a year ago.
I found the split allows for a much more relaxed position while writing, and being able to adjust the halves individually when I reposition myself is very comfortable.
They also have the benefit of having thumb clusters, giving more work to the strongest finger of the hand.
Another benefit I find is that most split keyboards are fully programmable, which makes customizing it to your needs very nice.
The only drawback I find to this keyboard (apart from the price, which is not cheap) is that it is hefty, and not easy to transport. The fact that it is wired clutters a bit the desktop, if this is something that concerns you.
I recently built a corne low profile yo have something more transportable and wireless, but this is much more involved, as the configuration goes through writing code and not a nice UI.
However the comfort of this new board is very nice.
There was a whole subreddit dedicated to ergonomcal keyboards, ErgoMechKeyboards, which is very interesting to browse, as what I have done is seen as extreme by my coworkers, but tame compared to what some people are do.
Fellow Moonlander + Corne user here. Once I accepted that I was never realistically going to take my Moonlander on the go, I sprang for the Platform kit. It’s a huge improvement over the stock tenting legs.
Column stagger and ortholinear keyboards are an ergonomic wonder. Everyone’s hands are different of course, but I find them really comfortable.
Another big plus for ZSA products is their software. The graphical configurator is really powerful and nice to use. It adds a lot of features on top of what’s natively available in QMK. I’ve only manually tweaked my firmware once, and that was for a particularly niche and convoluted use case.
I can vouch for the moonlander too. I had an Ergodox EZ for ~3 years, then got a Moonlander, and I’ve loved them both. Really comfortable to use, and as someone with some chronic wrist issues, honestly a career saver. The Moonlander is also slightly easier than the Ergodox EZ regarding transport as it folds a bit tighter and came with a carry case.
I imagine a split keyboard requires you to at least type properly?
I’m a software engineer with wrist issues, and would love to use an ergonomic keyboard, but I never really learned to type properly. I often have my hands overlapping the opposite sides of the keyboard. I’ll use all finger on my hands, but mainly it’s my pointer, middle, and ring finger doing the typing. I feel like this would be impossible on a split kayboard, and would take a crazy amount of time to get back up to speed typing properly.
The way to learn to touchtype is simple but annoying. Figure out how to hit backspace every time.
From here all you do is never look down. You hit the wrong key? Backspace. Try again. You can look at the keyboard sometimes, but not while typing.
It will take a while but eventually your error rate drops very quickly and you are good.
This process works very well on split keyboards.
I’ve built several. They are worth every penny. Not only reduced pain in the hands, wrist, and forearms. Also in my shoulders. I’m a fairly wide human and split tented allows you to place the separate parts at a more natural distance for shoulder/arm width.
My mother eve ended up stealing my last build. She’s not complained since and travels with it for work.
As a builder, would you say there’s a somewhat budget pre-built option that’s decent that lazy and curious people like me can look at?
I’m not having a lot of trouble with my body with the regular keyboards, but they do force.me into specific positions when I have to do actual work, because I need both sides of it rather than just the gaming one when I play.
Of the pre-builds you are going to be looking in the 200-300 range for any of the Ortho range. But to get started you could look at the Kinesis. They are in the 100-200 range, offer tenting and are split. Can often find them used on eBay as well. This was my entry into the custom keyboard world. Beware that rabbit hole though, it’s deep and can get super super expensive.
I have a ReDox keyboard built by https://falba.tech/. It took a month of getting used to but once I did I can’t go back. My wrist pain is gone and the layers I built make me faster in practice than I was on a standard layout.
I read the first sentence and was like “wait, I haven’t been here yet” :D
More anecdata, but 10-15 years ago I started getting RSI/carpal tunnel symptoms in both hands. I switched to tented keyboards (mainly Kinesis) and vertical mice (Anker among others) and the symptoms went away. I was able to finish out a programming career until I retired a few years ago. So thumbs-up from me. If you’re on a Mac, the Kinesis Freestyle is perfectly plug & play. I would recommend checking out a vertical mouse at the same time.
I started off with the quefrency, a split ‘normal’ keyboard, then started making my own (3d printed handwired) orthos.
Then I saw the alu case for iris and got tempted but am unwilling to drop >$300 on a layout I’ve never used before, so designed my own case with tilt and 3d printed and handwired that (all for ~£30 only!! split orthos CAN be cheap! - my first post on Lemmy was on this :D) And have been daily driving it so far
Column staggered is defo the way to go
I’m going down that rabbit hole as well - I’ve already built a handwired 3d printed keyboard and my current project is a split with a 4-way switch as a thumb cluster - inspired by the Fulcrum and in case I need a different cluster, this part of the case is modular.
My next build was (probably) going to be a remix of the iris and I wanted to include a joystick so I could use it 4 ways (towards left, highlight words to left; to right, layer; up down, vol controls).
I’d never come across 4/5 way switches before so that’s definitely something I’ll be looking into! Thanks for sharing!!
What CAD program do you use for designing your cases?
Ah you’re right, it’s a 5 way switch - forgot the “push” action. I’m using realthunders’ branch of FreeCAD - it is really convenient to use compared to the normal release.
Oh I might have to take a look at that, I also use FreeCAD! Damn look at all these things you’re introducing me to 😂
That’s awesome, glad to hear that! If you’re still learning it like me, I can really recommend the videos by OficineRobotica on YouTube (like quick recap on some additions to the branch and the series about building a Raspberry Pi case)
Have the Moonlander, love it. Watch Ben Valleck(spelling)‘s Videos.
Seconding Ben Vallack’s videos. He really goes down the rabbit hole of split keyboards.
I’ve been using a Microsoft natural keyboard since 1998. I switched over to the Elite when they came out and I have several spares stockpiled. They helped a lot with the wrist comfort and honestly they improved by typing by enforcing which fingers press which keys.
I have a hard time using a straight keyboard, not because I can’t adapt but because they’re just plain uncomfortable. So when a thing hurts when you do it then you stop doing it. You’ll see.
I printed out and mostly built a Dactyl keyboard but never got around to finishing it because work is super picky about what USB devices can be hooked up to our machines and QMK firmware will absolutely look like a mouse jiggler to their security scanning software. I had to unplug a frickin’ volume knob because it was alerting every day as a security risk or something.
Same here. People give me a hard time for having a 15 year old Dell-branded Natural Pro keyboard and a stockpile of spares but they seem to last forever and fit me so well, ergonomically.
I don’t have experience with either, but I find a keyboard tray with negative tilt very helpful ergonomically. (That is, the space bar is elevated relative to the F-keys, in contrast to the “normal” tilt of keyboards.) It’s far easier for me to keep my wrists in a neutral position with one. It might be a great compliment to a split keyboard if you opt for one.
Interesting! I’ve dropped from the positive tilt that I had to flat/zero and liking it so far (could just be the change of pace though). Never thought of the negative tilt. Feel like I wouldn’t be able to use the wrist/palm rest at all
That’s part of the purpose! 😆 Many people (including my past self) tend to leave their wrists on the wrist rest while typing, causing the wrists to angle upward and create unnecessary strain. Though not everyone, of course.
I’ve been trying so hard to get one, sadly where I live, this category is basically nonexistent.
My personal experience and opinions on split keyboards is a bit different than those that have already commented.
I daily drove a Lilly58 for about two years. Switching to the ortho layout took some effort, but not enough to be a deterrent. And with capable and customizable firmware, any keys that were missing on my layout were made easily accessible with layers.
Having a wider shoulder stance felt nice. And being able to adjust the rotation of the boards on any given day to accommodate my posture felt good too.
However, there were a couple of factors that eventually got to me and caused me to switch back to a TKL.
First was the dynamics between mouse and keyboard. I use a mouse with my right hand. Grabbing a mouse then quickly switching my left hand to the right split was awkward. And hovering my hand over the center of the keyboard was not possible. I tried adding a trackball between the two halves and switching hands as needed, but getting my left hand to cooperate was a much bigger hurdle than I expected.
Second was the lack of hand movement. (I think what most find to be a benefit.). Over time I found that my hands would get tired and I would start making a lot more mistakes while typing. It took a while to figure out, but stretching my fingers to reach things like the function row and using my pinkies to reach for the standard modifiers actually gave me a reason to move my arms and wrists and not hold them in the same position for long periods of time. For me, maintaining position and the lack of movement was far more fatiguing then the stretching.
I don’t doubt for a minute that splits are great and that there are benefits to using them. I just think that how much benefit is very personal to the individual using them.
