I recommend trying the 10's because they stay in tune really well but still have enough bend. Tried them again after learning john mclaughlin uses them. Lasted me about 2 years of off and on playing. Thats customer support.

The 25-pack comes as a box with a small hole with a rubber cap that contains the ends of the strings. I wipe my string after each use, but these string last well over a year fine for me. Dont forget to try lighter gauge strings too.

After reading reviews of d'addario strings, i almost question why they've even chosen to manufacture an 8 gauge string. If they don't even last through tuning, what use are they.

Amazon wants me to remove the other 5 strings that didn't break and package and ship them back for a return. It states that you'll get 5 sets of strings. Not 5 packs of 6 strings. These are 16 dollar strings.