Interesting question. ~4 years ago I went to an estate sale in Northfield MN. It was the estate of Mr. Kahle himself. He had died earlier but his wife had just passed away. Before he died he had sold his company to Eagle Claw. He did however have a garage full of hooks that were sold at this auction. I purchased many thousands. Some were dated back to when they were called life saver hooks. All of them are in new condition.Some were manufactured in France. I have yet to find any rust anywhere. I keep these in the basement where I work but they are in the furnace room. I would think unless the packaging gets wet you should not have to worry. These are very old, hooks.