[TurboHaskal]

It’s not only the form factor. They’re also obsessed with high resistance switches (going as high as 65 and even 80g activation point) which is sure way to develop RSI.

You should aim to go as low as possible but still avoiding accidental activation when resting your fingers on the keyboard. For most people, that means between 30 and 35g.

Realforce makes a bunch of them but they’re not held in high regard by the mechanical keyboard community because they don’t feel tactile enough. Let alone the fact that they dare using rubber in the keyboards.

Fortunately they seem to be busier building them from scratch and posting the results on Reddit than actually typing.

[Klathmon]

I absolutely haven't gotten that feeling from the mechanical keyboard community.

They seem pretty accepting of anything, and are often more concerned with finding the right keyboard for what you want. There are jokes and memes that go around, but not many people have issues with any kinds of switches.

Some people really prefer the tactile feel, and others really want the super high activation forces. It's a tradeoff, and there are more options now than ever.

I have a split ortholinear keyboard with Kailh blue 50cN activation force "clicky" switches, a BDN9 macro pad with Cherry MX White (80cN "clicky" switches), a planck with cherry MX brown 55cN quiet "tactile" switches, and an aging das-keyboard 4 ultimate that I replaced the stock greetech switches with MOD L Linear switches with a 45cN activation weight.

I have to say that I thought the lighter activation would be nice, but it was actually MORE stressful for my hands because even though I wouldn't normally accidentally activate the switch by resting my hands, if I moved too quickly or kind of let my fingers relax it would press down enough sometimes to type accidentally, leading to me kind of "hovering" my fingers above the keys all the time. I also missed the tactile feel that I was getting used to on other boards to avoid having to "bottom out" the keys for the most part.

I'm not going to say it's worse for everyone, but for me I greatly prefer 50-70cN activation force for typing, and I really like the "heavy" feel of the cherry MX White switches for my macro pad. You may like the lighter force switches. In that case you may want to go for linear switches as they tend to have smaller activation weights. Take a look at the Kalih silver or copper switches, or the cherry MX speed silver if you can find them. They are about as light as mechanical switches come.

[atoav]

I actually like strong switches. Contrary to intuition lighter switches are exhausting me more than weaker switches for some reason.

Maybe because I play Bass and my fingers are used to a certain kind of haptic feedback?

In the end it doesn’t matter, as long at is not one of these ultraflat new macbook keyboards, I hate typing on them.

[blattimwind]

> It’s not only the form factor. They’re also obsessed with high resistance switches (going as high as 65 and even 80g activation point) which is sure way to develop RSI.

I have been using a keyboard with relatively heavy switches for years now and never had fewer problems typing.

[Slackwise]

Actually, increasing resistance has reduced my strain from typing. After a few minutes of typing, I start to bottom out less and less, and instead I feel like I have little shock absorbers under each key, reducing the impact of every press.

As for the community, most seem to dislike high resistance switches, which is why my preference for MX Clears leaves me with few brands to purchase from, and my dream ideal of a higher resistance Topre will probably never happen.

[TurboHaskal]

You can install some BKE Redux domes. I hate those, so you'll probably love them.

[Slackwise]

I actually like the domes as they are. What I want is, somehow, to increase the spring tension after the dome collapses, so that I don't slam into the baseplate.

[psyclobe]

I will never sell my 103UB realforce 55g weighted keyboard. It is the best keyboard I have ever owned.