I had intended investigating Raid 0, thinking it would give backup and more speed
Erm.... RAID0 gives the latter but not the former. Whoever wrote the article you read stating the former ought to be hung, drawn and quartered !
Strictly speaking the former, in RAID setups where it does apply, is also defined as "redundancy" rather than "backup" ... for the obvious reason that you're presented with one logical drive ... the number "one" being a big hint that it's not a "backup".
How many times have I said on here that USB sticks will come and bite you in the backside if you start using them as backup devices.
Hard drives, CDs, DVDs, BluRay disks ... hell, even printed copies !
But memory sticks get chucked into the same category of robustness as floppy disks.
If you insist on using USB sticks, at least go off and hunt down some industrial grade ones that use the more expensive SLC cells.