Technology

I personally have used a self built Dactyl Manuform as my primary keyboard for the last two years or so, and it's great as a programmer. I mostly pursued it due to wrist discomfort, which has essentially disappeared since I started using it.

It makes a lot of sense to me, although I haven't jumped on one yet.

But I refuse to use anything but a 65%, I have a seperate numpad if I need one and having mouse and keyboard closer together is already a godsend ergonomics wise, I have no idea how I could stand full size boards back in the day.

A split keyboard is already great because your arms can be in a normal position and proper tenting and tilt makes sure your wrists are at a good angle as well.

That said, most of the more "advanced" split keyboards have pretty.. unique layouts and I don't know if I'll get used to them. I also really want to keep my arrow keys and don't want to rely on layers too much, for stuff like the F keys and other rarely used functions it's fine but I don't want layers for anything that's a regular part of my workflow.

Maybe I'll just get a quefrency and see how it goes.

I got Lulu Keyboard that’s split. I was having a lot of pain from typing and this has really helped me. I think I would upgrade and get an even nicer one to be honest

I’m running a 40% split at work, and I’ve noticed a massive difference in back pain at the end of a long day. Having the shoulders open and rolled back improves my posture and has made a world of difference to me.

I suggest the Moonlander by ZSA. It checks all the boxes for me:

• Ortholinear
• Fully programmable keys
• Programmable RGB lighting
• Hot-swappable keys (the keys are not soldered onto the board, allowing you to change the keyswitches)
• Built-in wrist support (can be detached or folded to hide it)

I've been happily using the Moonlander for over a year and can't see myself going back to a normal keyboard.

I got a Glove80 recently and so far I love it! It took some getting used to but it's very comfortable and seems to be helping with my RSI.

I personally don’t love split but I know keebio specializes in split keyboards and many with tenting as well.

I don't, but a coworker uses an ergodox and I've been eyeing it lately

My wife and I use the ZSA moonlander when we're not gaming. When we game we switch to regualr 60%s. I also have a custom built split keyboard that I don't really use.

For me, it saved my wrists. My wrist and forearms used to go numb after extended coding sessions while using a regular 60%. I no longer have that issue using a split.

I do recommend researching switches, as I found that using Gateron Red Inks, 45g actuation force, also added to relieving stress on my wrists. I lubed and filmed them too, which is overboard for most.

I also recommend trying different key layouts, I use Colemak DH, but Workman and regular Colemak are also good. They lower the finger movement needed to press the most used letters in English. Layouts can be changed on the hardware level on the Moonlander, allowing it to just work on any device.

https://colemakmods.github.io/mod-dh/ https://workmanlayout.org/

I got my piantor yesterday and i really like it so far, it was a bit of a challenge to set everything up in a way i like. And my writing speed has deceased from 140 wpm to about 30. But that is just a matter of relearning to write on this keyboard and unlearning years of bad writing practices.

I went from regular keyboards to split qwerty for a while. Which was nice but still felt a bit clunky. I then built a Lily58 and daily drove it for about 2 years. I did this mostly out of curiosity because I never had any pain issues, back or wrists or anything. What happens is now I noticed how uncomfortable regular keyboards are, when I have to use the laptop keyboard. It is very good to control tenting with the split form factor. I then switched to a Corne because it's smaller and I travel quite a lot. I also changed to a colemak layout and boy, that switch was hard (decades of typing qwerty, muscle memory, etc). It is much more comfortable to type though.

i have an ergodox and its good, but my kinesis advantage is noticably easier on my hands

I have the Kinesis Freestyle Edge keyboard and so far I love it. The split definitely helps in allowing my shoulders to be more relaxed. And I feel like the tilt definitely helps as well, though I wouldnt set the tilt to be too high, as it may cause issues with typing.

If you are OK with a larger learning curve, the Charachorder One is a great option. It's split, great for RSI, and works well with tenting with a 3D printed stand.

I use an Iris, a split ortholinear board. I also used a pack of differently sized rubber feet to tent the board a small amount. I love using it, I wish I could have one for every system I use.

I'm even keeping my eye on the Framework 16 inch laptop, since the customizable keyboard module will allow for a split board!