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Lol good point.
I certainly would not say that there is an ideal bow hair tension. However I find that the nature of the violin is to simply change it's mind as the days go by. I do not like having to "make friends" with the violin all the time. It's a pest.
So, I try to control as many parameters as I can. (I won't burden you with what I do with rosin 
)
The pencil schtick is handy and probably adequate for most situations but you can see in my photos that there is significant visible difference in bow curvatures/materials. If I go from one bow to another without some common "feel", my control suffers.
By the way, I find that "loose" hair does favor double stops but is then contrary to playing fast as with reels, jigs, etc.
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You guys are great!!!!
The tightness of your bow hair can fluctuate but if it is too tight you might have trouble playing smooth. A certain degree of looseness is good for a bit of a shook absorber effect. You can also have the bow tighter and use the edge, play at an angle a bit.
You need to have the bow tight enough to be able to make a good spiccato (bouncing bow) as well.
If the bow is too loose you will have trouble giving enough pressure to produce a big quality sound. You'll end up using a lot of stick in your strokes.
Different bows require different tensions. Stiff bows need less tension as apposed to flexible bows.
Sometimes it looks like my bow is loose because I use a great deal of pressure.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Perfect answer Fiddlestix!
