For what it's worth, we've had just the opposite experience. Two winters ago we kept breaking brittle hooks on John's Jigs (not sure what hooks they use now, but they used Gammi at the time). Started tying our own jigs using some Vision Hooks that Joe sent us and haven't broke one since...I think they are just as strong and have fewer defective ones. There have been a few hooks in the packages that needed sharpening, but that's no different than Gammi and who doesn't check their hooks before using them anyway?

Kevin
FH http://www.fishermansheaven.com