Two Keyboards!?

Exploring Ergonomic Split Keyboards: My Journey with the Glove 80

Over the last few months, I started to look into ergonomic split keyboards and a few keyboards kept coming up:

• Kinesis Advantage 360
• Glove 80
• ZSA Moonlander

Why Though?

As a self-employed plumber who also works as a software engineer, I began noticing fatigue in my wrists. After a decade of repetitive movements like using screwdrivers, I started to worry about carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). I researched ways to prevent this because I really enjoy my job and wanted to plan for longevity. I came across an article that seems to corroborate this:

PubMed research on ergonomic keyboards

The research suggests that fixed-split ergonomic keyboards can reduce pain and the likelihood of developing musculoskeletal disorders in typists over extended use. It seems that the forced position of a normal keyboard can increase muscle strain, whereas an ergonomic or split ergonomic keyboard can alleviate this.

Glove 80

The Glove 80 caught my eye. They kind of look like goalkeeper gloves to me every time I take a step back and look at them.

I decided on the Glove 80 because of its excellent reviews. Some complaints mentioned they're better suited for larger hands, which worked in my favor as I was worried about the opposite.

It has a natural curve and feels incredibly comfortable. You can even 'tent' it, raising the legs to a 45-degree angle, a 90-degree angle, or attach it to your chair with accessories.

Cost

The Glove 80 is fairly expensive, costing me £322. However, you pay for what you get, and can you put a price on your health? As a plumber, I always bought high-quality tools, and this keyboard feels well-made. It has reignited my enjoyment of typing and motivated me to relearn touch typing.

It comes in two colors (white or dark gray) and offers 4 key choices:

• Kailh Choc v1 Brown Tactile
• Kailh Choc v1 Red Linear 50gf
• Kailh Choc v1 Red Pro Linear 35gf
• Kailh Choc v1 White clicky

You can also order one with unsoldered keys if you have soldering experience and prefer custom keys.

QWERTY & Engram

This is where I probably messed up a little. After 20 years of using QWERTY, I decided to explore alternative layouts while switching keyboards.

Why is QWERTY the way it is?

QWERTY was introduced in 1873 for the Remington No. 1 typewriter. Its design was influenced by mechanical limitations, primarily to reduce jamming of typebars. The layout arranged commonly used letters apart to slow down typing just enough to prevent jams.

Alternative Layouts

I researched several alternative layouts:

• Dvorak (1930): Designed to increase typing speed and reduce finger movement.
• Colemak (2006): Aims to retain many QWERTY shortcuts while placing common letters on the home row.
• Workman (2010): Focuses on reducing lateral finger movements and finger strain.
• Engram (2016): An ergonomic layout optimized using computer algorithms.

I ended up trying a slightly altered version of Engram by Sunak. It places less-used characters like 'Z' and 'Q' on the little finger. You can find Sunak's review and layout article here.

My Typing Progress

Here's how my typing speed progressed:

• Week 1: 15 WPM
• Week 2: 25 WPM
• Week 3: 30 WPM
• Week 4: 35 WPM

After a few months, I can now touch type at around 65 WPM and have started working on increasing my speed again.

Last Thoughts

I'm thrilled with the change. Since switching, I haven't experienced any wrist pain or fatigue, and typing has become fun again.

One last thing: when I got my split keyboard and changed layouts, I also decided to switch to Vim. Learning a new layout and Vim simultaneously was challenging and slowed me down initially. However, now that I'm past the learning curve, it was a great decision, and I love the shortcuts and skills I've gained.