A survivalists choice keyboard.

Last week we took a look at one of the largest keyboards we've ever seen, the Saitek Cyborg board. This week, we've got the polar opposite of the behemoth. Everglide's DKT Keyboard, made in conjunction with Razer, is a tiny board made specifically for gamers on the go who don't want to worry about breaking their gaming hardware, don't need to deal with the fuss of drivers and have everything they need in a simple, plain keyboard.

That's exactly what Everglide delivers, with more. The DKT, named after and made in conjunction with professional gamer Brian "DKT" Flanders, is a USB keyboard with just the bare essentials and eight additional media keys. It's so compact that it would fit as a 14" laptop keyboard, minus the number pad.

It's also very thin and very durable. The small size is great for anything, be it gaming at home or on the road, or even using it as a spare keyboard for your office or school (considering how disgusting a keyboard hundreds of people use can be). Lightweight and easy to move around without a guiltyconscience, the DKT is the perfect keyboard for all your simple and complex computer needs.

As for durability, the DKT is unlike any other keyboard we've tested. It's made with the intend that punishment will come. Built with a hardened aluminum top case, it is sturdier than your hard drive. We tested this by doing everything expected for a board of it's qualifications, and I mean everything. This includes taking it from place to place in a bag with no protection and no regard for its safety (throwing the bag around, letting other people use it and test it out, etc.). I even smashed it against a wall several times, in an attempt to simulate the rage one might feel should a game not go as planned, and ended up simply damaging my wall. Not a single scratch is on the DKT, nor did any keys come off or get loose.

Think it won't work well in the dark? Everglide has that covered with full backlighting, done by the press of a button on the top right of the board. A simple push will illuminate all but the media keys, which was a slight disappointment, which only grew worse the more we used the board. The letters are transparent, so the blue backlight shines clearly through, making sure you never get lost in the dark.

Using low-profile keys reminiscent of a laptop keyboard, key presses are quick and responsive. There's no lag between your keypress and the action it performs, and the low-profile keys compliment the board exceptionally well. The extremely short cable, only 3', was worrisome.

The moment I began testing the board, that cable proved to be an issue. It was too short to reach over my workbench to the back of my testing desktop, and I was forced to use one of the front USB ports, the cable strewn across the table, maneuvering under the mousepad and disturbingly in front of the PC. For a travel keyboard, a longer cable isn't necessary per se , but at least 6' is required. There is also no option to tuck it away in the back of the keyboard through some built-in indentations, which would help protect the cable from ripping off should something occur.