Svalboard Lightly

I'm a long-year and satisfied user of a Dactyl Manuform, who originally switched to split keyboards and the Workman layout to relieve pain after intense work days. The pain is no more and I'm generally a happy typist.

However, once I discovered the Svalboard, I was totally hooked by the ingenuity of it and the ethos of how it came to be. Someone wanted that this device exists, relentlessly worked on it, made the dream a reality, and is sharing the outcome with others. This is so much relatable to me personally that I immediately longed to dwell in this work of love. So yeah, I lacked a good medical reason to make the purchase, but I had to.

Since I received the Svalboard two weeks ago, I'm spending my evenings with relearning to type, trying out many little adjustments, and getting comfortable with the incredible sensitivity of the switches. For now, I keep using the default layout. The rapid day-to-day improvements of accuracy (avoiding the accidental triggering of switches) and speed are quite surprising to me. After mere two weeks, I already notice getting into "typing flow" sometimes.

Regarding the device as a product, I find it absolutely fascinating that a dedicated individual is able to build a product of this level of quality and polish. The braided cables, magnetic connectors, the rigidity of the case and metal parts, the documentation, the serviceability. Everything about it speaks quality and substance and attention to detail. I'm grateful for the chance to literally lay my hands on this delicate "typing instrument".

Hats off! Wishing the creator all the best!

Super comfortable!

I am still in the process of adapting to the Svalboard, but so far my experience is excellent. The support received from Morgan has been wonderful, too.

Having struggled with de quervain's tenosynovitis for years I decided I needed to try something new to continue to work. I have been using a Moonlander and the thumb clusters continue to aggravate the issue and the constant movement to mouse causing issues with my main arm and shoulder. The SvalBoard with the integrated track balls is perfect, after moulding the palm rests to my hand shape and finding a fit unique to each hand I can safely say these issues are no longer ongoing while I type and my productivity is set to accelerate with the amazing Vial software used to program different layers and macros. The most interesting thing for me was how light the keys are, it made me realise how tense my arms usually are while I type ok other keyboards creating constant strain. Relearning to type really isn’t as difficult as it looks - I made the transition to Colemak simultaneously with the transition to Svalboard and was at a comfortable 30 wpm within a few days, and 40 within a week. I believe with only a few more weeks of practice 60 - 80 is easily achievable.

Yes it is expensive but I doubt you’ll continue to seek any new keyboard after buying one of these.

Morgan did an awesome job building it and was there for support when I needed it. I ended up switching layouts when switching to the svalboard. So more difficult curve, maybe. Anyway if your thinking about getting one, its a pretty amazing board. QMK with Vial is pretty good too.