Keyboards

Bowl shaped ortholinear keyboards are the most comfortable. I use a Dactyl Manuform at home and I type with Colemak-DH.

I started by using Precondition's Keymap which uses the Colemak-DH layout and has numerous innovative features. I ended up not liking some of the features like Home Row mods and now I follow a lot of the recommendations provided by Xah Lee.

Colemak-DH is a great layout and I think it is generally the best one to choose because it is familiar to QWERTY users but does not make efficiency compromises like Norman or other QWERTY-like layouts. Xah Lee has very comprehensive information on many of the layouts: http://xahlee.info/kbd/dvorak_and_all_keyboard_layouts.html

I have created my own QMK keymap and after a couple years of experimenting with it I am finally satisfied with the results: https://github.com/jeffgaddis/dactyl_manuform_combo_keymap

This layout uses 'one-shot' modifier keys to reduce strain from holding down keys and for the layers it mainly uses keys on the opposite hand of the layer key. Some of the key placements within the layers are definitely subjective and it could be useful to have a keyboard with both number and function rows to reduce the need for these layers.

My keymaps also include my Typing Shorthand System which is easy to learn and can greatly reduce the effort needed to type.

Recommended Bowl Shaped Keyboards

1. CYBOARD Imprint
2. Glove80

Travel Keyboards

It can be difficult to travel with that keyboard so I also use a Redox keyboard with home-made legs for tenting.

I like this keyboards because it has more keys than other popular ergo keyboards and everything seems to be in the best possible position for a flat board. I would not recommend using smaller keyboards since they require frequent key combinations that can cause RSI.

The tenting legs definitely make it more comfortable but this is not comparable to a bowl-shaped keyboard.