Wrist rest or no writest rest? + keyboard legs extended or laying flat?

[spitfire6000]

I been using Filco ninja black-switch linear keyboard for over 2 weeks now, and its turned out to be the best keyboard I have ever had.

I have a memory foam 3rd party wrist rest that i use with it because its a ton more comfortable.

I always used to use the keyboard with legs extended for an angled keyboard slope, but after getting the wrist rest, I find that using the keyboard flat is a lot more comfortable.

For me: keyboard flat + wrist rest > keyboard legs extended + no wrist rest

What is most comfortable for you?

[daerid]

The absolute most comfortable for me is with legs up, on a keyboard tray, arms at 90 degree angle, no wrist rest.

[noodles256]

personal preference or listening to other people?

[calavera]

wrist rest, flat legs. Been using it like this for the past 5 years

[daerid]

personal preference or listening to other people?

Personal preference.

[Chobopants]

wrist rest, flat legs. Been using it like this for the past 5 years

 
This is how I prefer it as well.

[N8N]

for me, legs up (unless it's a Model M, which I prefer...) *and* wrist rest - but the latter is more because I like to wear nice watches and don't want to get my bracelet clasps all scratched up

[microsoft windows]

Wrist rests are terrible. I can't stand them.

[Weapon]

I just got a 3M wrist rest and it really helps with my hand cramps during my sc2 gaming sessions. Typing feels a little different but I think I may like the wrist rest better than without. Wrist rest+ stand down.

[isp]

I put my keyboard pretty far up.  So I can rest my elbows on the table while I type.  Legs are up on it though (hhkb).  There are no legs for da pokah ((

[MrGPhantome]

No legs and no wrist rest, keep my wrists at 90 degrees. Seems to be the best way to keep your wrists and fingers healthiest. Practiced by keeping my keyboard at the very edge of my desk to avoid getting lazy and resting my palms.

[Surly73]

Legs up and a palm rest is what I usually do.  I don't like pads under my wrists.  My elbows are usually more open than 90 degrees but my wrists are typically straight with this setup.  

I started using my Model M at the office with the legs down, but that's the first time ever for that.  I've been typing since 1984 or so - no RSI and legs down has never really felt right.

[reaper]

Legs down with palm rest.  I like them as flat as possible...  on all my keyboards, I mean. lol =D

[jblack801]

Legs up, no rest. Althought I tend to go through phases of legs down, legs up... I'd say the majority of the time they're up. Right now I'm rocking forearms on the edge of the desk, and wrists up in the air.

[Pylon]

How bad are wrist rests for your wrists? I learned typing on a laptop and I'm used to resting my palms on the palmrest.

[daerid]

The guiding factor about wrist health is that while typing your wrists should be straight and not bent. After that it's pure comfort.

[Astounding]

No wrist rest, angled feet.  Considering a rest for my left hand during gaming though, as some sort of RSI is setting in.

[spitfire6000]

I definitely cannot go back to not using a wrist rest, I find that I can hit WPM speeds in the 120s on my black switch keyboard, whereas before I maxed out at 105.

Also, I find using the wrist rest along with legs up (yielding a sloped keyboard sloping down keys) makes typing weird and uncomfortable. I guess this is because the top keys are too high and the bottom keys are just right.

I think that flat keyboard with wrist rest is the best way to go because then your fingers can go down on all the keys and best of all they go strait down, not angled force.

[spitfire6000]

To add...for gaming specifically since I am using a filco black switch ninja, the wrist rest is a godsend.

I can rest my entire arms on the table top, while wrist on my right hand mouse is supported by a handstands mouse wrist cushion, and the WASD and other gaming keys are supported by my fellowes memory foam wrist rest.

I will take a picture of my setup tomorrow when my new cellphone comes in with a 5 megapix camera.

[peda]

no wristrest and legs up.

everything else feels strange to me. my wrists are slightly bend upwards with that but never gave me any problems. just feels natural to me

[AndrewZorn]

Flat + Rest.

[Tony]

It depends on the typing posture. Right now I use wristrest and legs up.

[dazed]

Flat with no wristrest feels most comfortable for me
.

[George7]

I'm not too fussed. Of the 3 keyboard setups I use frequently, I use legs up + wrist rest on my Cherry G80, legs down, no wrist rest on one of my AT102Ws and legs up no wrist rest on my other AT102W. I can use most keyboard setups without issue though.

[Mazora]

no legs, no wristrest

[ironman31]

keep my wrists at 90 degrees.

Isn't that... bad?

[csm725]

Wrist rest 1 inch away from closest edge of the KB with legs down is the best for me. Reduces stress greatly and according to my tests, has a higher consistency in speed.
With wrist rest and legs up, I get 87WPM on one paragraph but 70-75 on the others. I burst at 92.
With wrist rest and legs down, I get 77-82WPM consistently. I burst at 86.

[TheGreatAmphibianPling]

Re. "Personal preference (comfort) or listening to other (unqualified) people" - I'd suggest neither. One of the horrible things I learned when I talked to an ergonomicist and read the books she recommended is that stuff that feels comfortable is not necessarily safe - if it was, fewer people would get overuse injuries. A lot of people misuse wrist rests in a way that causes them to compress their carpal tunnel. Hand position is what counts, not what the hand is resting on - in fact it shouldn't be resting on anything while you are typing:

http://www.ergonomics-info.com/ergonomics-carpal-tunnel.html

f you only have 2 minutes to read this, just remember this

    That means practicing good ergonomics for carpal tunnel prevention means, when typing,

    DO NOT bend your wrists from side to side or up and down.

    and keep your wrists aligned with your forearm in a straight line.

As for the keyboard legs, desk height, etc - everything should be tweaked to get you that neutral hand position.

(Talking of ergonomicists, you have to literally be one to adjust some ergonomic chairs - I mean really.  The "Steelcase Leap Chair" has about 20 interacting adjustments. You have to get them set a pro and then record them on a chart with the user's name in case some muppet borrows someone else's chair and plays with it.  My advice is to do what Bruce Sterling and Dr House did and get a "Humanscale" instead.)

[TheGreatAmphibianPling]

This is perhaps an even better link because it has pictures:

http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/preventing.html

Also:

- To the guys who type with the wrists on the rest and haven't had problems so far - no, that doesn't mean it is safe! It just means that you haven't had a problem yet. Think of the logic a lot of smokers use to "prove" they're not going to get cancer.

- To the guy with gaming induced RSI coming on who is planning on treating it with a wrist rest: take a rest from the gaming and see a professional. Being unemployed is never fun, but I'm sure that being unemployed with and because of RSI is even less so. Really: some of the RSI stories in the ergonomics books I read were horrible.

Regarding wrist rests:

http://www.pacificcoastergo.com/articles/ToRestOrNotToRest.pdf

[spitfire6000]

nice post! I didn't know that its best to have the keyboard tilted DOWNWARDS! it makes sense though.

How come there are no keyboards that let you tild them downwards away from you? The keyboard legs being on the far end seems to be totally against what that webpage is saying.

[elef]

Flat + Rest.

Seconded.

[TheGreatAmphibianPling]

nice post! I didn't know that its best to have the keyboard tilted DOWNWARDS! it makes sense though.

How come there are no keyboards that let you tild them downwards away from you? The keyboard legs being on the far end seems to be totally against what that webpage is saying.

Spitfire: what's important is to have the wrist angles shown. The reverse-tilt is just a trick for getting that that helps some people. **Everything is about getting those wrist angles and anything that lets you do get them is good.** All the old-school trained on a typewriter typists I've ever  seen had perfect wrist angles despite the keyboard having a severe "regular" tilt.

[jpc]

Kinesis Contoured with builtin palm support. Comfy :biggrin:

[Deverica Wolf]

Legs extended, no wrist rest.

...For now, anyway. That's how I've always used them.

[csm725]

With legs, with rest. It's odd but I type ~10 WPM better.

[Wogrim]

Wrist rest, keyboard flat.  I don't always rest my wrists on the wrist rest though.

[Trueepower]

I used to use keyboard with legs up, and no wrist rest. Now, I am currently using the flat approach.... wrist rest, and legs down.

[Atenacius]

The absolute most comfortable for me is with legs up, on a keyboard tray, arms at 90 degree angle, no wrist rest.

This is what I prefer, too. But I really hate keyboard trays aesthetically. I guess I've never owned a table that had a nice tray. They've always been shoddy, jamming occasionally. Also I prefer having one huge slab tabletop and keyboard trays don't look that great with one. Either way though I would have to say keyboard legs up without a wrist rest.

[chel-]

I prefer flat and no wrist rest with my hhkb. When I use full size keyboards then I prefer to use a wrist rest.

[Farsiite]

i prefer to keep my keyboard  about 2-3 inches from the edge of my desk. so that my wrists are the only thing that are resting on the desk.     and i don't think i've EVER liked the feel of a keyboard with it's legs extended. granted the majority of keyboards i've used have been giant piles of crap that more than likely had at least one of the legs broken off. so i'd imagine that's somewhat motivated my preference there.

[bojinglebells]

flat no rest

[DeltaGunner]

Legs no rest, not enough room for a rest, not sure if i buy one if i change to a bigger desk.

[wsdaren]

o.yes

[keyb_gr]

No wrist rest + feet not extended. However, I still have a bit of a height problem here. I have already tweaked sitting height (which did help) and keyboard height could still be lower.

The trick with tzpewriters of old was placing them on a fairly low desk. Same goes for board with their feet up. Today, things are more likely to be too high.

[spitfire6000]

TIME FOR A CURVE BALL!!!

I have been deceitful guys...I did not mention one thing...

Many times, the GREATEST of all positions i think, is to take the keyboard entirely off the desk and have it flat on your lap. typing that way.

Maybe its not the fastest configuration in terms of WPM because of how much more relaxed you are...but it feels so much better.

With the filco black swtich on my lap, i can feel the keys sliding up and down on my lap, vibrations transferring through the board to the bottom, its so awesome =P

[mrsone]

Seconded.

Thirded, lol.

[mrsone]

I use flat + a wrist rest. I find that I get the most comfort and accuracy in this position. Sometimes I may change it up a little bit but that is what I have come to prefer overall.

[Mopar]

Do you adjust the angle with a boner?

:pound:

[daerid]

:pound:

After checking out your avatar... possibly :-o

[Bry]

The absolute most comfortable for me is with legs up, on a keyboard tray, arms at 90 degree angle, no wrist rest.

This, except I like to have a low desk with the keyboard and mouse on it and my monitors sitting on risers. I suppose if I had a tray that was very sturdy then I would probably be happy with that, but all the trays I've used are cheap wobbly things. Doesnt matter if you have a $150 keyboard built solid as a tank, if you put it on a flimsy plastic thing that wobbles around, it still feels like **** to me.