I don't recall much from the manuals apart from "Don't get them wet and don't, Whatever you. Do, feed them after midnight!".
I seem to recall the temperature and humidity limits may have been mentioned on the ones I bothered to read but, and this is the thing, the do not advise one how to store in those conditions and I also do not recall any mention of using, or not using, metal containers to store them (for example).
Perhaps a USB humidor is in order?

This post is a number (good show!)

Can't buy them all but the back of packages at a store would say most?

E.g: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...efd5xej2bb.jpg

Metal on metal is always a bad idea, cardboard is one recommended but it gets wet so I would go plastic or wood... you won't want air tight due to temperature changes and condensation... (don't eat unless your going to tare apart airplanes:) Styrofoam-peanuts are recommended for shock but suspended in cloth or something could work good too; then: https://www.theruststore.com/Article...0&CategoryId=2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silica_gel

...basically a cool, dry place, with of course a life expectancy!

These drives are not, generally, metal though, the simply have a relatively inert metal protrusion which may touch the surface of a storage container in certain circumstances -- how is that worse, for example, than it coming into contact with a piece of charged plastic? Even if they were metal, I'd like to see evidence that storing a bit or stainless steel, or zinc-plated steel in a metal box (vibration etc. aside) causing any issues over periods relevant to USB storage drives. nice movie reference.
I feel I ought to point out, though, that in too dray an atmosphere static electricity tends to be a problem, so just being dry is not enough.

I take it though that the take-home message here is that the best place to store a USB stick is somewhere not obviously harmful and anything beyond that is overkill since the stick's as likely to just fail in use as it is from being stored incorrectly?

If you throw a rusty tool in with your other tools it may spread and some metals react with others types... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

"Charged plastic" and charged air are good points... thanks. So, maybe a static barrier in that "USB humidor?"

I have one usb stick and several micro sd cards and I've stored them in a plastic case for years and I can still read and write to them without any issues. The plastic case I am using was once occupied from my formerly used 3.5 floppy disks.

Could happen tho, like stroking a fluorescent light tube with wool: http://www.umbc.edu/engineering/me/e...lectricity.pdf ...

off topic, i'd love to get my hands on some of the older 1 and 2GB sticks, preferably to prices according to storage amount - then i could have a shelf full of them (1 per distro).

bonus: that sort of manual?

I've got at the lest 10 cards\SD-(1\2\4\8\32\64GB) for a Pi...

but unlike "personal data"\configs of which I may obtain there, I back, back, back it up!

Burners are cheep too...

hey, thanks for that.
i will have to see if sth similar is available on my national equivalent to ebay...

incidentally, i used to have that exact stick.
it is the only usb stick i ever had that actually broke and became corrupt.

Every stick I've ever seen has some way to protect the connector, either a cap, retraction, or some such. However, caps can get lost. But the metal outside of the connector is ground, so touching metal in a box will do nothing. Rust can be a problem, however. But in the end, it doesn't make a dime's worth of difference where you store USB flash drives, as long as you know where they are.

I have had a few retractable ones and an MP3 player, they always break on me; a big up side to SSD is no moving parts.

The USB drive I use the most has only 500mg (like for real) but the cap has a lanyard. I've never left it behind because the string around my neck reminds me of whether it is there or not. It's completely crammed full and I always have to delete stuff from it, but it's the only one I've not lost.

Just because of this thread. I retired the old ratchet toolbox I posted about earlier for better use in the shop to hold loose drill bits. I now use
Xmas cookie tins.

http://i63.tinypic.com/5ugymu.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/3358w8z.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/wryxhw.jpg