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Comment by throwaway3714 | Hacker News Reader

For those in this thread, try mechanical keyboards without much actuation force, like Cherry MX clear.

Also try programmable keyboards or custom keymap layouts, which will allow you to map Return to the caps lock key to balance RSI a bit. I have issues with my right index which I almost completely blame on Diablo 1/2, swapping left + right click helps a lot.

I’ve also tried and wouldn’t recommend: Dvorak (no noticeable difference) Egrodox (extremely hard to learn)

Maaaaybeee tiled window managers, dunno where I stand on that one but it probably doesn’t help a lot ergonomics wise.

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I really like my ergodox. I can't go back to a normal keyboard. The only upgrade I can think of is going to a kinesis advantage or dactyl. It took about a week to get comfortable with mine, longer until I was better with it than a normal keyboard.

My experience is different here... changing to Dvorak + changing mouse to a trackball in the left hand (along with a MS ergonomic keyboard) made a world of difference for me.

I can currently code a whole day without feeling anything... coming from not having enough strenght to hold a glass sometimes due to RSI -- 10 years since I did the switch already... having to type much slower when doing the switch to Dvorak also forces you to be slower and helps in the initial recovery.

As a note for people with issues, don't go to pain killers when you're still typing, you'll only make the problem worse... if you go to pain killers make sure you also stop typing/injuring yourself.

I have the same experience with Dvorak. Haven't got any pain issue anymore since i switched from qwerty to dvorak. My typing speed really suffer for the first week though. Also, now i can't type on qwerty anymore except on a phone on-screen keyboard.

I didn't have too much trouble learning the Dactyl. Detailed my experience here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/azkkpz...

It took 4 hours or so of constant typing tests to get up to 60 wpm. It took another week or so of working with the keyboard programming 8+ hours a day to stop having stupid mistakes.

It seems like it's going to be extremely hard to learn at first. Especially when you're hitting 5 WPM every time, but trust me, your brain will adapt. I was helped out by the fact that after spending a few days _building_ the keyboard, I wasn't about to back down. I was pleasantly surprised when it only took 4 hours.

Since then, my productivity is through the roof. Tons of thumb keys that are entirely programmable = heaven for an Ergoemacs user like me.

I’ll also mention that cherry mx blue are much to heavy for me, and brown hurt after a week of furious typing. My problem with clears is that if I rest my hands too much I press keys because they’re so light

Clears require more force than Browns?

https://ergodox-ez.com/pages/keyswitches

Grantparent poster here. Hrm, you're right, I remember purchasing keys 'lighter' than browns, possibly silvers. They're very light, but I'd probably prefer 'too light' over 'too heavy'.

You may have Gateron Clears, which are lighter than Gateron Browns. Gateron Browns are basically equivalent to Cherry MX Browns, but Gateron Clears are entirely different from Cherry MX Clears. This has tripped me up more than once.

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