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Massdrop Staff Picks: Meet Henry

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To help you get to know the people behind our Staff Picks collection, we asked each team member a little about themselves, how they got interested in their favorite community, and what else they’re doing these days. Read the Q&A, check out their picks, and use the comment section to ask questions or just say hello.

Meet Henry, who’s all about the Mech Keys Community.

Q: What do you do at Massdrop? A: I have worn many hats in my time at Massdrop but the one I currently wear is that of our affiliate marketing manager. I also used to be a buyer for our hobby shop community and I built Massdrop’s first mailroom.
Q: What do you like most about working at Massdrop?
A: Products, products, and more products. I have a few interests including Mech Keys, EDC, and I would call myself the most amateur audiophile out there (woo hoo monks!) and I love that my interests have become my career and I love that I can continue to learn and participate in these communities that most people have never heard of.
Q: How did you get into mech keys?
A: Reddit was where it all began, I think I was on r/battlestations one day and someone did an x-post from r/mechanicalkeyboards. As soon as I found the sub I went face first down the rabbit hole. I ended up weighing pros and cons for my first keyboard for what must have been a month. Towards the end I realized that I had to go with a Pok3r or a Leopold FC660M. A few weeks later my first Massdrop purchase and my first mechanical keyboard hit my doorstep, and I have not looked back since.
Q: What are some of your favorite products in that community?
A: GMK keycap sets, as a lover of all things sneaker I see a lot of parallels between a shoe like the Air Jordan 1, my favorite sneaker, and a Cherry profiled GMK keycap set, my favorite manufacturer and profile. I collect them for the same reason that I collect sneakers, if in 20 years I want to break out the Triumph Adler, or Carbon, I can.
Q: What are some of your other hobbies/interests?
A: Too many to list. I’m a collector of many things, whether it be clothes, sneakers, toys, or keyboards, I have a weird carefully curated collection of whatever it is. Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube is the best game ever made, followed closely by Hearthstone. I also love to make and consume all forms of art and design.


Check out Henry’s picks: Hammer Jello Resin Artisan Keycap
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/hammer-jello-resin-artisan-keycap
Revo One Aluminum 60% Mechanical Keyboard Case
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/revo-design-one-aluminum-6063-60-mechanical-keyboard-case
Mechcables Godspeed Custom-Sleeved USB Cable
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/mechcables-godspeed-custom-sleeved-usb-cable
Varmilo VA68M V2 Aluminum Mechanical Keyboard
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/varmilo-va68m--v2aluminum-alloy-mechanical-keyboard

Follow Henry to see what he's up to:
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KNITTING: Toni MEN'S ACCESSORIES: Han
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TLRSTN.COM
23
Aug 22, 2017
GOD BLESS FETISHISTIC MATERIALISM! OUR PURCHASES CAN GIVE US IDENTITIES. EMPTY VOIDS CAN BE FILLED WITH PLASTIC!
Henry_L
659
Aug 22, 2017
TLRSTN.COMRIGHT!?
m0arpheus
433
Aug 20, 2017
Heya Henry, I'm a lowly pleb when it comes to the glory of making and collecting keysets and cases and I'm going to be sticking with my trusty and venerable (though much maligned by snobby Mech guys/girls unfortunately) Logitech G710+. Are you ever going to be putting out sets for this nonstandard front-row type board? If you did, I'd really appreciate it.
Also, I challenge you to a game of OG Super Smash on the 64. I call Jigglypuff, your move bro ;)
Woos
0
Aug 22, 2017
m0arpheusDoubt it. Mech fans hate that board so it'd hardly sell.
Henry_L
659
Aug 22, 2017
m0arpheusHey @m0arpheus I feel your pain, a nonstandard front row was what stopped me from customizing my first leopold (when the front row was still nonstandard). I put on some GMK mods and that was about as good as it got.
The problem that we run into is that often the manufacturers make a certain key in the bottom row only possible to make with their tooling, which means they are the only people that can make those spacebars (in the case of Corsair) or whatever other non standard key it is. This effectively ruins a lot of the customization that you could do to your board unless you want to start mixing profiles and caps. If you're looking for a good cheap starting point for something standard, check out the Magic Force 68. Also I would check reddit archives to see how people have tried to customize their G710+ to see if I'm just not being creative enough haha.
Henry is the man. Got to spend a week with the dude and he was just slightly cooler than the most interesting man in the world.
And he will CRUSH you at some super smash, I know from experience.
Branny
733
Aug 18, 2017
livingspeedbumpOh really now, I gotta play w/ henry in smash now
Henry_L
659
Aug 18, 2017
Brannycome by the office! Always down for a game or 5
hhkbp2
362
Aug 18, 2017
@Henry_L What mech keyboards/keycaps do you have? Which is your favour?
Henry_L
659
Aug 18, 2017
hhkbp2Welp.
In my closet: I have a Topre Realforce 87u (55g Uniform), a KC60 with mx reds and some cherry profiled PBT caps, and a Pok3r with mx reds and some tai hao caps that I hardly use.
And my daily driver is my Leopold FC660M with mx reds, GMK Griseann, and some GMK mods. I can safely say that after using so many different combinations, this is the best that a keyboard can be for me. What about you, @hhkbp2 ?
EDIT: I totally forgot but I have a minivan as well (mx reds and unicorn puke DSA) it's a fun little package but hard to remember what which key does what when you start switching layers quickly.
hhkbp2
362
Aug 18, 2017
Henry_LThat is a nice collection you have. I guess you really like MX red switches. I used to like light weight MX switches, such as blown or blue. Or Topre switches. Later I fell in love with the MX Clear switches, mod with 62g springs. They're called Ergo-Clear switches. It gives the best typing feeling for me to install SA profile keycaps on MX Ergo-Clear.
Currently I have these keyboards:
HHKB pro2: The Topre switches(45g) feel really smooth and comfortable, with default PBT Topre keycaps. I tried both JTK Topre to MX sliders and Plum sliders(from Taobao KBDFans) on it. Get a HHKB which is ready to install and change different MX keycaps. It's good enough for daily usage but far from perfection, because there are flaws on both types of sliders.
Cherry g80-3000: color black, with MX blue switches, and default POM keycaps. No modification at all. It feels tactile on the switches and soft to hit the bottom, since this keyboard doesn't have the middle metal plate. I Like it, but seldomly use it because it takes much room of my deck.
GH60: Customized to HHKB layout, standard bottom row, with lubricated Ergo-Clear switches. The middle plate of it supports removing the top covers of switches without desoldering these switches. I change the switches from Ergo-Clear to MX Blue, or vice verse, from time to time. I would like to use SA keycap set on the Ergo-Clear, and DSA or GMK keycap set on MX blue. The low profile and the thin mold of DSA keycap amplifies the tactile of MX Blue switches. On the other hand, the high profile and thick mold of SA keycap fit really unique to Ergo-Clear. I like both combinations. This keyboard is my daily drive recently.
Ergodox: Fullhand, Ergo-Clear switches, DSA keycaps. It's a classical Ergodox(not Infinity Ergodox). I bought it from Massdrop about three years ago. Really ergonomic to type. I would love to use it anywhere I need to do the typing, because: 1. it's really ergonomic. It eases my wrist pain on long time usage 2. no one else would even tough my keyboard. The only problem is that it's inconvenient to carry them around. I couldn't find a proper carrying case of it. It's much easier to travel with a 60% keyboard.
Besides these keyboards, I get a bunch of keycap sets, which are collected from time to time in years: GMK carbon, Cherry charactered/blank pbt/pom 104, SP ABS DSA hana, royal navy, PBT granite, infinity dye-sub, and also SP SA Filco, Jukebox R2, Chocolatier, etc. Too many indeed I don't think I could remember them all at once. Yeah, that means a lot of money spent, on a bunch of plastic. Most of these money was spent on Massdrop. :-)
Henry looks much different in his profile picture
Henry_L
659
Aug 18, 2017
erickongTime is a powerful thing ;)
Branny
733
Aug 18, 2017
Honestly I have never heard of henry!
XiK
5535
Aug 21, 2017
What about mine?
Henry_L
659
Aug 22, 2017
XiKit's pretty cool, but not as many keyboards as I would like ;)
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