So far we have responses from TX, S.C., and southern California. I lived a few hours drive from Ridge in southern California for most of my life and now I'm in Georgia, a few hours from Dave in S.C.
I was concerned how badly my car and tools started rusting after a few years in Georgia- and they were all kept inside and "dry". The humidity is MUCH higher here, and keeping things inside in a dry place really didn't help. If it were me, and living here in the high humidity, I would sand and epoxy them as soon as possible, just to keep the rust down and probably save myself more work later.
I guess it depends on where you live- is it 20-30% relative humidity like where Ridge lives, or 70-90% in the summer like where Dave and I live on the east coast.