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/

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.

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’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 used the ergodox ez for a couple of years, great device. Doing more with thumb is surprisingly convenient.

The small poles didn’t do a lot of tenting. I came from yogitype (vertical keyboard), would have liked more.

A few months ago i switched to kinesis 360. Love the tenting of that, the keys are also a pleasure to type on.

Biggest downside is that my laptop keyboard is now even more horrible.

I can’t get by without my lineages advantage 360 pro. It’s a ridiculous keyboard but the only one I’ve ever tried that hasn’t caused my arm to get inflamed after a days typing.

I use the Logitech ergonomic keyboard at work and love it. It does take some getting used to but it is definitely a more comfortable typing experience.

I built a Lily58 keyboard a couple years ago, and I love it. Coincidentally enough, I posted about it today on another thread about mechanical keyboards on yet another server.

But I love how it turned out. It’s super comfy, and I actually enjoy that I can put that keyboard around another keyboard I use for my ipad. So during the day while working I can still use my ipad easily. Super nice.

Here’s a link to the image I posted with that thread:

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9184e3ce-60e3-443c-921b-8302d2a46bfb.jpeg

I’ve been trying so hard to get one, sadly where I live, this category is basically nonexistent.

I think they’re very good if you use your computer for a whole lot of typing and nothing else. Using a DVORAK keyboard instead of a QWERTY one will also improve your WPM and QoL when typing, once you’re used to it. If you’re a writer or a programmer, it’s worth considering.

But much like DVORAK vs QWERTY, any non-typing tasks become affected. It’s awkward playing PC games, for example, when some of your shortcuts for inventory/map are far enough from your kb hand to need your mouse hand. You also don’t have much range to choose from, so may have to make compromises on things like keypress feedback, simultaneous presses, unit price, etc.

I learned to touch-type on a tented keyboard with a mild split. When I replaced it, I got a ‘Wave’ keyboard - not split, but slightly tented, and had depressions and curves to match the wrist and the finger lengths at rest on the home row. Both of them were membrane keyboards (full-depth keypress). Despite being a membrane keyboard, the Wave was still as chunky and loud as most mechanical keyboards.

But now, I’m just using a generic full-length mechanical keyboard (partial keypress) with relatively quiet switches, one chosen as a good compromise between gaming (sensitivity) and typing (feedback). I’ve changed my resting position a little so that my wrists are still in an A shape (not an H shape), but I’m finding the keys much more comfortable.

The old ergonomic keyboards didn’t give much choice and in hindsight the feedback on the keys on the Wave felt AWFUL compared to what I use now. A split/tent mechanical keyboard might be different, but then price becomes a consideration. Swapping to a mechanical keyboard made the biggest difference to my comfort typing. (And don’t let tall/loud keys fool you - not every chunky keyboard is mechanical.)

I started off getting a Dygma Raise, as this is a staggered layout like a standard keyboard and you could even slot it together or separate it and use as a split.

I recently put together a Lily58 which is a columnar layout, which took a few days to get used to but I have been enjoying using it.

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 built myself an Iris (v6 iirc) and I love it to pieces. I painted mine rainbow!

I had an ergodox for a while. It was nice but it also did hurt more at the start but then I felt way better than with a normal keyboard. Are you experiencing RSI?