Thoughts on the super light Arcus Bows?

ruby

What are y'alls thoughts on the super light, hollow core carbon Arcus bows?  I'm in the market for a new violin bow, and the super light quality of them appeals to me.  Primarily because I haven't played in about a year because of RSI/carpal tunnel issues.  So I'm hoping the light weight will minimize the strain to my hand&wrist.

They're a bit pricy for my budget though-I can afford to buy a mid grade one, but not so easily to spend the money unwisely.  Which is why I'm here, asking if they're actually fairly priced.  At this point, I care much more about the feel in the hand more than sound, if that makes a difference.

So!  What's the verdict on arcus bows?  Specifically the 4-5 grades, with the lighter models-if anybody has a lot of experience.

As to why I don't just play the bow I have, and see how I do?  Well, I was a violist with a difficult to play instrument, and a bow on the heavy side.  While I'm very satisfied with my violin...the violin bow is a $100 special that came bundled with a cheap outfit.  Oh, and it's warped terribly due to a careless roommate.  When I played violin pre-injury, I just used my heavy-ish viola bow, but I never considered that anything but a stopgap and always wanted a playable violin bow.  Well, now circumstances might be dictating that I buy a decent one instead.  I want to stack my bets as much as possible on being able to play again, which is why I'm willing to invest in a good bow, for minimum effort required to play.

I have 3 years of university study as a violist, if that slants your opinions any.  

ARod

I see that the S series weigh around 48 grams. I have a pernambuco bow that weighs around the same.



Is it really the weight of the bow that is causing your RSI/carpal tunnel problems? In a recent discussion about this it was suggested that such problems are caused by technique/posture/bow grip, rather than the weight of the bow.



If it is really the weight of the bow that is causing your problems, is the superlight bow going to be so much lighter that it will make a difference?



I like the sound of my lightest fiddle bow (I play traditional Irish music), but I have to bear down on it hard to get volume, and I suspect that is more tiring to the hand and wrist than using a heavier bow would be. I just bought a 70 gram viola bow to experiment with at the noisier Irish sessions. It cost £35, including delivery from China!



The manufacturer of the Arcus bows makes absurd, unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits of his products. He has somehow convinced himself that the vibrations of a wooden bow at around 25Hz cause pain and fatigue, and claims that his plastic bows don't cause such problems as they vibrate at around 50Hz. I know of no scientific support for these claims, and I am considering reporting them to the Advertising Standards Authority.



The lowest priced Arcus bows cost around 20 times what I paid for my Chinese bow.