Switches
Everything here registers above 50 grams-force, against the 45 to 55 gf most keyboards land in and the 45 gf of a Cherry MX Red.
Two groups of people want these. Typists who bottom out hard and want the board to push back rather than collapse, and anyone who finds that a light switch produces keys they did not mean to press. A heavier spring is the most reliable fix for both.
The cost is real: above roughly 60 gf you are doing noticeable work over a long document, and fatigue is cumulative in a way a five minute test at a meetup will not reveal. If you are unsure, a heavy switch with a narrow spread between actuation and bottom-out is easier to live with than a light one that climbs steeply, because the total work matters more than the starting figure.
6 of the 48 switches indexed here, from 55 gf to 60 gf. 5 have at least one force figure left blank, because the sources disagreed or published something impossible.
Gateron
The heaviest tactile in the Smoothie line at 55 gf, with an all-POM housing and POM stem. POM against POM is the self-lubricating combination, which is why the Smoothies are usually sold on smoothness rather than on a sharp bump. Bottom-out force is not published for this switch.
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Gateron
The tactile version of the same silent housing, at 55 gf with a short 1.5 mm pre-travel, so the bump arrives early and the key registers soon after it. Tactile and silent is a harder combination than either alone, because the dampening that kills the noise also blunts the bump. This keeps enough of it to feel deliberate. Heavier than the Pink, and the right choice if you want feedback from a switch nobody else can hear.
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Gateron
One of the switches that built Gateron's reputation with enthusiasts rather than manufacturers. A heavy linear at 55 gf that bottoms out around 80, so it takes deliberate pressure and returns firmly, and the ink-style housing gives it the deep sound the hobby spent years chasing. Not a beginner switch: if you have only used a stock keyboard it will feel like hard work. If you already know you type heavily, this is the reference everything else gets compared to.
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Gateron
At 59 gf this is one of the heavier tactiles in the index, in an all-nylon housing with a POM stem. Nylon on both halves is the quietest and deepest of Gateron's common housing choices. Total travel is 3.4 mm, noticeably short, so the switch reaches the bottom sooner than an MX-standard 4.0 mm. Bottom-out force is unpublished.
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Gateron
The Ink housing is Gateron's own plastic blend, and it is the reason this switch sounds the way it does: deeper and fuller than a standard nylon build, with almost none of the scratchiness a heavy linear usually develops. At 60 gf it is the heaviest switch in this index. That suits people who rest their fingers on the keys and hate accidental presses, and frustrates anyone hoping for a light, fast board.
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Gateron
A low-profile clicky, which is an unusual thing to want and a very specific thing to enjoy. Total travel is 3.0 mm rather than the usual 4.0, so everything happens sooner, and at 60 gf the press is firm. The POK top and POM bottom housing give the click a harder, drier sound than a standard-height clicky. Only relevant if your board takes Gateron low-profile switches, which is worth checking before you buy.
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Brands represented here: Gateron.