Have you ever felt pain or discomfort while working long hours on the computer? That's because you're forcing your body to be in a position that's not natural. Luckily, tenting your keyboard can help to reduce the pain.
Look at your hands on your keyboard. They are bent outwards, causing ulnar deviation. But also, they are pronated; your palms are facing down. This causes your forearm bones to cross over each other, pinching the forearm muscles. It also increases wrist fluid pressure. Both of these things lead to discomfort and pain.
The first problem is easily fixed by using a split keyboard. But how do you avoid hand pronation?
Here is where tenting your keyboard comes in, as it allows your hands to rest in a more natural position, similar to when you grab a ball.
Tenting is considered the ultimate ergonomics, but many raise the question: is it really that good? Should we all start tenting our keyboards?
Well, we've sent a survey to our more than 1000 tenting kit users. And we got absolutely mind blown with the answers.
A tenting kit for our community
But, before diving into the matter, some context.
Almost a year ago, we developed a new tenting kit for our ergonomic split keyboard, the Dygma Raise. It was a request from our community, and we completely sold out the first batch in no time. We had to make a second batch, and then a third one...
We started shipping the first units in August, and the feedback we received from our post-sale survey was nothing short of extraordinary.
Tenting your keyboard reduces pain and discomfort
More than 50% of the respondents reported feeling pain or discomfort while using a non-tented boring keyboard. Mostly in their wrists and shoulders, but also their arms, hands, neck, and back.
Thanks to the tenting kit, 93% of them now feel less discomfort or don't feel it at all, which is great news. It means that tenting your keyboard helps! A lot!
But the good news doesn't stop there. 90% claim that they prefer to use their keyboard tented, and 35% would never return to a non-tented keyboard.
Best keyboard tenting angles
It's also interesting to look at how the different angles are used.
The Dygma Raise Tenting Kit allows for four different angles: 10º, 20º, 30º, and 40º, and it can also be laid flat.
Among our users, the most used angles are 10º and 20º, while the 30º and 40º are used significantly less. However, it's usual to start at lower angles and keep increasing them with time.
Getting used to a tented keyboard
Another thing to consider is how long it takes to get used to it.
73% of our users found their ideal tenting position within a few hours, and only 17% were still getting used to it after a couple of weeks.
Nevertheless, tenting your keyboard might need some adjustments to your workspace because it modifies the angle of your elbows and the height of your wrists.
You may need to adapt the height of the chair or desk, change the way you sit, or place the mouse in a different location.
A great tenting kit
Finally, we wanted to take a moment and relish how our users have rated the tenting kit. Overall, they rated it 9.3 considering the unboxing experience, how easy it is to install, the build quality, and the aesthetics.
Nevertheless, thanks to our user's feedback, we have discovered some areas of improvement. For example, some have asked us for a 5º angle or more angle options between 10º and 40º. Another thing that was mentioned is that, with the tenting kit on, the Raise is 10mm higher, which makes it less comfortable while using it flat.
These are all things we're considering for our future products.
So, is tenting your keyboard that good?
As you have seen, tenting your keyboard makes for a much more enjoyable typing experience and can help you reduce pain and discomfort. Once you try it, it's probable that you won't want to go back to your regular keyboard.
And if you're in the search for one, the Dygma Raise with its tenting kit seems a great option.
It's the only one in the market that allows such a sturdy experience and with so many angles to choose from. Plus, it's available in black and white, perfectly fitting the aesthetic of the Raise.
