Decent strings are closer to $25-30 for a set of dominants, one of the better pirastro sets, or even a d'addario helicore set. As for the "kinks," there shouldn't be a pronounced kink with a properly setup bridge and nut, and imo, not a great deal with wire wound strings, which tend to be soft and pliable. Solid steel strings and other circa $10 a set strings do tend to exhibit this problem, but they're so bad sounding and shrill, they're not worth the money they cost - I wouldn't use them if you gave them to me (no offense, nothing personal - but I do think they're garbage.) If you're worried about the "kink" being on the wrong side of the nut or bridge, you've changed something pretty drastically. Perhaps check your bridge setup to verify placement and angle. These are regular adjustments that may be performed at any given time, if you find your bridge out of alignment. If you're having trouble getting your windings aligned and wound properly on the pegs, you probably need to have your pegs and pegbox properly setup. Anyway, ymmv. I would not recommend keeping the instrument under tension for longevity's sake. Old hide glue can be dealt with, but if the wood gives out or warps, you're out of luck. It's usually not a problem, but it's what I'd do if i KNEW I wasn't going to touch it for a long time. In a controlled environment, it should be fine, but things can happen, like the flood I had this year. By longevity, I mean storage for many months, if you know you won't be using it, not a few weeks. The best luthiers I know use a humidifier to control the environment 24/7.
