They are certainly heavy enough to have caused serious damage!
It took me a while to realize that the "lower" four strings of a banjo are nothing but the lower 4 strings of a guitar except that the high E is dropped a note to D. D-uh!
I miss it. Honestly. I really dug the way the drum skin vibrated against your palm when you played notes on it. That was a sensual experience.
My son now says that he finds the tension of guitar strings and the width of guitar necks distracting.