Hi there! You ordered your UHKs within 2 years, and they are just being manufactured. Please check out https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/delivery-status

You should finally have them in about a week or two.

We're catching up, and will deliver every pre-order in about two months. Thanks for your patience!

I set up a linux trick recently where the caps lock key that's already being remapped as control when it's held down is also set up to emit an ESC when it's pressed and released using xcape. Works quite nicely, but I don't know if complex behavior like that can be implemented as a hardware mapping.

Yes, they call it Dual-role keys. On their blog there is a recent update about how this is now also visualized in their configuration-software. Seems the firmware and their configuration-tool is quite powerful.

Ooh, gotta do this on my laptop! I have an Ergodox and have z and / set up to be control if I hold them, and the key left of a is Esc or GUI (I use GUI a lot for i3wm). I'll have to try this with the laptop, thanks!

I do the same on OSX using Karabiner. I cannot live without it.

I did the same thing, albeit with my space key. If I press it shortly, it now acts as Ctrl key. This was literally the best thing I ever did to fight my RSI-like symptoms.

Used to be able to do this on macOS until the latest release broke karabiner. Hoping that, one day, this will be an os feature.

I have a UHK and a Kinesis gaming. The UHK keys are mounted on a steel plate and it feels super solid. The Kinesis feels pretty cheap in comparison. The Kinesis does have separate function keys, arrow keys, and a (big honking) esc key, but it also takes up a whole lot more room in my desk.

They both have apps for mapping keys, but the kinesis app is Windows and Mac only, the UHK app runs on Linux (probably those others too. I wouldn't know).

You can fit the two halves of the UHK together to form a regular non-split keyboard. That is impossible with the Kinesis.

I like them both, but the Kinesis just feels so nice and solid. I made the left-side space bar a function key and that makes the function keys and ESC usable enough for me. I'm an emacs user so I don't use those that much anyway.

> I like them both, but the Kinesis just feels so nice and solid.

Was that a typo? Above you said the Kinesis feels pretty cheap.

Yes. I meant to say the UHK feels solid. Too late to edit, apparently.

I've been using my first 60% for about two weeks and haven't even thought about the single esc/tilde/tick key since its initial mapping. It's not even an issue.

The esc key is not a problem for me. You have the mod always under your left thumb (left half of space-bar). Keyboard is so small that you easily reach mod and esc at the same time with your left hand. Takes a day to internalize. Since you are getting them anyway, you should definitely give them a go for a week or so when you get them.

Damnit, why did you have to tell me this existed? I was perfectly happy with my Kinesis Freestyle II, and now I'm lusting after the Edge :(((

But seriously, I really enjoy split keyboards. I've got a trackpad in between (!) the keyboard halves, and I really like that kind of setup.

All the keys are mappable, you can put Esc anywhere you want. I made the key marked ` into Esc, and put `~ on Fn-T (for tilde)

What do you use ESC for? It doesn't seem particularly common these days, and ^[ tends to be just as good, in my experience.

It's not just VIM and NeoVIM where one can find the escape key commonly used.

One can drive GUIs with keyboards to an extent, including the escape key to cancel dialogues and pop-up/drop-down menus. This is true for many full-screen TUIs too, including orthodox file managers for starters.

Nearly 40 years of muscle memory with Emacs. I often use ALT for meta, but sometimes forget, and it's jarring.

vim?

You can map caps-lock to escape to reduce travel but some HN folks turned me on to the idea of avoiding it altogether: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Avoid_the_escape_key

I map Caps-lock to Ctrl, purely so I stop hitting it by accident. It works well, I find myself using it as CTRL often.

THEN I Use someone eLSEs keyboarD AND...

I've never used ESC in vim. I learned ^[ first, and it's less travel.