Choosing between Kailh colors?

[geekmonkey]

Hi there, newb here. So, I'm plotting to build my first board. I'm likely going to be having questions about various aspects, but, to start with: switches. I know that I do not like linear. I tested a board with reds and hated them. Currently I have a cheap Chinese board (which serves me perfectly well for what it is, no complaints) with Outemu blues. I like them. But I'm not necessarily set on trying to get something else just like these; I like clicky but I don't think I'd need it to be clicky, but it does need to be at least tactile. I was thinking the most likely candidates seemed the Kailh purple or light green pros, or copper or bronze speed, maybe also gold? Has anyone used any various Kailh switches (really any clicky/tactile switch they make, doesn't have to be just these colors; all input is useful!) and can give me any insight?

Or, along those lines, I know kbdfans sells them in packs of 10 for a pretty good price and I'd consider simply buying several of those to try them out, however, the insured shipping is $15 and I'm not about to pay that twice (once to test several and again after deciding). Switch testers aren't much help as they're just one key, which doesn't give you a proper idea of the feel, so that's not really a method I want to go. Is there anywhere else that sells a wide variety of Kailhs in small amounts (rather than just full sets) with a cheap shipping price to Europe, allowing me to try out several colors for a reasonable cost?

[mta]

I wouldn't necessarily sell the switch testers too short. Even though you only get one key apiece, they're still quite good for getting a general idea and at the very least eliminating ones you don't like (thereby saving you more money in buying entire sets or clusters).

The kbdfans 72-tester has been decent for giving me an overview of kalih switches (among many others), though maybe kalih packs would be more appropriate for you if that's where your interest lies. Some switches you'll find are just "meh" and others will seem more intriguing and will help direct your next purchase, and this would have been a lot harder/riskier to do without a tester.

Also sometimes I like to trill two fingers on the same key to get an idea for what multiple keys would be like (you can try this on a keyboard you already have to see if trilling is anything like actually typing on it -- in my experience it's reasonably close).

[geekmonkey]

Hm, maybe, but I feel like 1 key just isn't enough to really have a true feel for it. Not that I'd mind a tester, but the price, on top of the price for all the board's pieces, and non-solid notion of the keys... just more than I can toss out on that.

I just found a shop with Kailhs on Ali though ...$0.24? pp, something like that, one of the outlier stores without free shipping, oddly enough, but it's cheap enough, as are the switches, that I'm thinking of ordering 6 or so of several types so that I can try tapping my fingers around on them a bit to get a more solid idea.

[tp4tissue]

JADE Obviously