crankin
Volvo beat ya to it
Do you have a programmable keyboard right now? If so you can put a 36 key keymap on it and try it out, or at least certain elements of one.
A big difference between a 5-col vs 6-col is that 5 will require homerow mods or some riff thereof. If you can put homerow mods on your current keyboard, even without changing anything else, and use them for a week or two to see if they agree with you, then you’ll know for sure whether the 5 col is the right choice. That’s what I did, then made a Fifi
I have two boards that I regularly swap between, one with red pros, and one with Sunsets. Stock, I found the Sunsets way too aggro, but I lubed them with 205g0, including the tactile bump, and that totally mellowed and smoothed them out. Now they feel goooood! So just something to keep in mind.
Cool patio chair, can I ask where you got that?
I have one board with Choc Sunsets (tactiles), one with Choc Pro Reds (35g linears), and one with Choc Purps (25g linear).
Out of the box, the sunsets were way too aggressive for me, but I lubed them with 205 including the tactile bump and that mellowed them out and quieted them down.
The Purps are too light and kinda rattly, didn’t care for them.
The Pro Reds are my favorite. I lubed them with 205 and they feel and sound good.
I also laser cut a small pad from thin silicone that sits between the keycap and the stem, and which cushions and silences the bottom out. On a choc switch the keycap bottoms out against the top housing, rather than the stem hitting the bottom of the housing, so you can put a film or something under the keycap.
With those silicone bumpers and 205 lube the Pro Reds are nearly silent, and the Sunsets are pretty quiet too.
I just ordered some more PCBs, on the next board I may try pro reds on the homerow and purps on the other rows and see how that feels.
I’ve not read this book but used to do some sailboat rigging, and I would avoid We$t Marine if possible. Personally I used to go to RW Rope because I lived nearby (but they also sell online). I’ve also ordered from knotandrope.com but not for marine stuff.
No worries, I routinely swap between my 34 key weirdo keyboard and my laptop without any trouble.
One thing that you might find helpful is to get some really unique keycaps on the ergo board so it feels different. I had MT3 keycaps on my ergo board while I was learning it, although that being said, now I’ve switched to choc switches with essentially laptop keycaps, and I can still type on my laptop just fine.