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.
Thanks for sharing and nice to hear the argument that " a split keyboard is absolutely 100% mandatory"
Yeah, part of the reason I’m asking is because I was originally set on a rather subtle design (split monoblock with a bit of angle, not much space in-between). I had some slight pain on occasion but largely viewed many users on here doing more ‘preventative’ setups.
The recent pain has been making me ask myself again whether to do that approach or go for a more complicated sparatable split design. I’ve used fully split setups before but they weren’t travel-friendly.
There are two major benefits in ergonomics with fully-splits. They are that, 1, they acknowledge that one size does not fit all in that they offer a way to move them around and find the right angles and positions for you and your hands; and, 2, “the best posture is the best posture” - i.e. the ability to move and adjust your setup throughout the day/session is itself an ergonomic benefit, staying in one posture is one of the roots of RSI.
Another thing that full splits offer that you may find beneficial is tenting, especially (again) adjustable tenting. Monoblocks don’t tend to be tented and when they are they are stuck at a fixed angle, if that’s not the right angle for you then it’s a problem, and adjustability is king for the aforementioned reasons.
Now, there are many factors, split keyboards are not a panacea. Mouses/pointing devices play a role, as do chairs, desks and maybe most importantly habits! Take regular breaks, move around, etc. Again, the best posture is the next posture.
Also don’t listen to people on the Internet and consult a doctor/physiotherapist.
I use a fully-separated split keyboard, but I imagine a keyboard that has a reasonable angle in the middle will still give most of the benefits. I used to travel with my split keyboard a lot and it wasn’t really an issue with a proper carrying case of some kind. If you are really concerned about RSI I would put that worry as first priority, before considering things like ease of portability etc. I’d rather be annoyed with a travel setup than need wrist surgery later.