Astro Domes
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The goal of Astro Domes was to replicate the feel of BKE Redux, but with a closed top in order to have a better sounding build overall. I can confidently say we have achieved that goal with ease. So no more need to make WTB posts for ridiculous amounts of money only to be short a few domes for your build and waiting another year to find more.
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Now you might be wondering, what is with these names? Well bless your heart, Astro Domes are themed around cities in Texas (mostly). Shiner, Weird, Lean, Fiesta, and Big D reference the cities Shiner, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas (respectively). Better than a not-light dome being called light amirite? And another fun fact, the top of each dome is a T20 torx drive, so do with that what you will.
Where to buy: https://sneakbox.com/
When will they be available?
- Hoping sometime next month (March 2025) but exact dates are still unknown.
- Domes will be in stock, and planned to keep restocking as long as interest is there.
Pack Quantities: Pricing TBA, but cheaper than competitors.
- Standard packs: 8x 1U strips, and 1x 2U strip (4 domes per strip, 36 domes total)
- Sample packs: 1x Weird, 1x Lean, 1x Fiesta, 1x Big D strip
Weights*: Colors TBA
- Shiner: TBD, waiting on new samples. Hoping for 35g or so.
- Weird: 50g
- Lean: 70g
- Fiesta: 90g
- Big D: 120g
*Weights measured without a spring and are averaged. Listed weight is at the peak of the tactile bump. Some variation is expected. Final numbers may change a bit depending on final samples.
Comparisons: (Note: BKE Redux comparisons for feel and weight, Deskeys BKE comparisons are solely for weight)
- Shiner: Deskeys BKE Tiffany (most likely, as mentioned before TBD)
- Weird: BKE Redux Ultra Light, In-between Deskeys BKE Purple and Blue
- Lean: BKE Redux Light, Deskeys BKE Green
- Fiesta: BKE Redux Heavy
- Big D: BKE Redux Extreme
As far as feel goes, they are very binary/snappy like the original BKE Redux domes. Compared to Deskeys V1/BKE, Astro Domes are more tactile/snappier hence why I say compare only the weight not the feel as it will feel different.
We are testing the waters for those with weaker fingies and will have a low quantity of the Shiner domes for the introductory sale. They won’t be offered in the sample packs at the start. But if there is interest we will restock them and include in sample packs in the future.
Prototypes:
We have already prototyped the domes, and tested/confirmed the 50g-120g variants. Afterwards we saw interest in possibly doing a lighter variant, so with the final production samples (being made now) we have a test set to see where they land weight wise and will update the list of options once we know.
There are some details left out that will be announced closer to launch, like colors and a few more things but for now almost all of the information regrading the domes should be here. If I missed anything obvious please ask/mention as I may not have realized given there are blindspots being the designer that I don’t always realize.
I sent some domes to initial backers of the project, and they have all enjoyed them so far. I will see if any of them are willing to make their own comments regarding their experiences with the prototypes. So keep a look out in the thread for those.