Long Travel vs Short Travel

[donnghia]

which one do you prefer and why?

many typing guys think short travel is better for fast typing while other one to feel the key by longer travel

also many prefer short travel for gaming...

what is your reason?

[fohat.digs]

I like short travel and tactility so that I don't have to bottom out.

[equalunique]

Anything to prevent bottom out.

High/short actation, but long travel. My dream switch is 1.4mm actuation kailh speed gold stem inside a housing with something like 6mm travel lol.

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk

[HungerMechanic]

I've always wondered why Cherry chose 4mm for travel. It seems like an arbitrary number. What research was behind this?

I think one of the main reasons I enjoy alternate tactile switches like Pro Purple and even BOX Brown is that they have 3.6mm travel. Even if I bottom-out, I'm using less energy on the up/down-stroke. I find that they just feel faster.

[tp4tissue]

I've always wondered why Cherry chose 4mm for travel. It seems like an arbitrary number. What research was behind this?

I think one of the main reasons I enjoy alternate tactile switches like Pro Purple and even BOX Brown is that they have 3.6mm travel. Even if I bottom-out, I'm using less energy on the up/down-stroke. I find that they just feel faster.

It's probably by feel through focus group testing.

They probably got a bunch of dudes in a room, ask them to try out a few different depths,  and poll, "which one feels good".

So 4mm is probably the point where the user FEELS like he's pressed a button.

Because that's been the main complaint of shallow keebs like the macbook, you press it, but it doesn't feel like you've buttoned.

[Benitone]

I'd like to test cherry mx speed switches with o-rings, not for the higher actuation point, but because they have globally a shorter travel.

[pixelpusher]

Anything to prevent bottom out.

High/short actation, but long travel. My dream switch is 1.4mm actuation kailh speed gold stem inside a housing with something like 6mm travel lol.

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk

Try out some SKCC green alps, man.  Pingmaster is cheapest/easiest way to get them. It's a linear switch, but quite a bit of travel and early-ish actuation. 

[pixelpusher]

So many people who hate bottoming out.  Interesting.

It's not something I've every really worried about, but I guess I kinda get it.  This is likely the main reason why I like stock MX clears.  I love how the spring gets quite heavy at the end, almost preventing bottoming out.  Try them if that's your thing.

[Kevadu]

Halo True is the best switch for avoiding bottoming out.

[pixelpusher]

Halo True is the best switch for avoiding bottoming out.

What do you think about Halo clears?  I prefer them to trues because of the stiffer spring further into the press, like Cherry clears.

[Kevadu]

Halo Clears have a more traditional MX Clear-like spring but the True spring has very minimal preload so they start a bit lighter and then they get significantly heavier by the end of the travel.  They're actually about 20g heavier on bottom out than Clears even though they're actually lighter at the beginning.

[rxc92]

I've typed on Clear switches for most of the time and switched over to Hako trues; they're more tactile than Halos or Clears and excellent for avoiding bottoming out. However, they're pretty heavy.

[Stupidface]

which one do you prefer and why?

Does it necessarily have to be one or the other?  Perhaps different occasions call for different keyswitches.

what is your reason?

Short-travel Cherry ML switches for light bouts of typing (e.g. surfing) because they are crisp and snappy*.

Long-travel Buckling Spring switches for serious, hours-long typing sessions.









*They are on my well-worn keyboard, anyway.

[Sintpinty]

Short travel , want to type fast

[Sup]

short travel is just more comfortable since you don't need to lift your wrists as high with a long travel board. I really like low profile choc switches and they are also pretty nice for gaming.

[Rhienfo]

I'm not to fussed about travel distance honestly, strictly mx at least, I have used both shorter and longer distances and while I prefer shorter distances I can still enjoy and can type on standard 4mm travel.

[phinix]

This interesting. Thing is I love bottoming out, so maybe I don't care about travel length.
I guess people are not botomming out when they touch time really fast. I don't, that is why I like to hit them hard

[Prince Valiant]

This interesting. Thing is I love bottoming out, so maybe I don't care about travel length.
I guess people are not botomming out when they touch time really fast. I don't, that is why I like to hit them hard

I think I tend to bottom out or come close most of the time, especially when I'm typing faster. I prefer longer travel than shorter though, as I find it more comfortable.

[phinix]

Yeah, I prefer to have longer travel and press hard to the bottom, than miss a character.

[juliday]

I wonder if the travel distance feel different according to the chassis??
I felt big difference from the same switches on different housing.

[mohawk1367]

For gaming, I set my actuation to like 1.8mm usually.
For typing tests, I use a laptop LOL.
For personal enjoyment, I like long travel switches.

[dunsparth]

I prefer long travel as i like the way it feels more.
I am a much faster typist when using short travel switches tho.

[Rob27shred]

I'm all about the full 4mm travel at least when it comes to MX switches, anything shorter feels awkward to me & causes me to make a ton of typos. For me the main reason I prefer 4mm travel is I have become so used to that, that I just barely bottom out when using full travel switches. Long pole or speed switches feel to abrupt to me & I tend to bottom out hard on them. I'm sure if I gave long poles another go I could get used to shorter travel as I had a couple builds with Holy Pandas I got used to. Although I either got rid of them or haven't touched them since switching over to using mainly linear switches. Actual now that I'm thinking about it I guess the tactile event of a tactile or clicky switch helps me a ton with not bottoming out hard on reduced travel switches. However I heavily prefer linear switches nowadays, am not a fan of the sound of long pole switches, & never liked any speed switch I have tried. To each their own though, since long pole linears seem to be the most popular switch type nowadays.

[Leslieann]

I've had long, medium, short and really short...
In most cases, how the switch goes about it matters more than the travel after a slight adjustment phase.

The one exception is super short travel, there's some laptop boards with super short travel where typing on them is a horrible experience. no amount of damping or tactility would save it.

[Rhienfo]

there's some laptop boards with super short travel where typing on them is a horrible experience. no amount of damping or tactility would save it.

That actually might be why I prefer short travel a bit more, because I've used laptops for most of my life when it comes to keyboards. I think that also might be why I still quite like apple scissor swtiches, just because I am so used to it.

[mohawk1367]

Anything to prevent bottom out.

High/short actation, but long travel. My dream switch is 1.4mm actuation kailh speed gold stem inside a housing with something like 6mm travel lol.

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk

why do some hate bottoming out? is it an ergonomic thing? like the sharp force makes ur fingers hurt or something?

[Leslieann]

why do some hate bottoming out? is it an ergonomic thing? like the sharp force makes ur fingers hurt or something?

A harsh bottom out is actually not really healthy for your finger joints but for me noise is also a consideration.