Pickled Onion problems

[FedupNagging]

So, I have 5kg of pickling onions (don't ask!)

When I've pickled onions before, I have just peeled them then stuffed them into jars with the pickling vinegar and spices. This time however, I decided to dry salt first as apparently this helps them to keep longer.

The onions have been dry salted but are now soft - my question is will they crisp up once they have been pickled in the vinegar?

I have only done half the onions so before I do the rest thought I should double check.

Thanks.

Yes, that's right!
I've never skipped salting before...how do they turn out and how long do they keep?

Phew that's a relief.

Previous batches of pickled onions have been fine without the salting but apparently only keep for about 3 months. Saying that though, I have read a few comments where the posters (on a vegetable forum I think!) said theirs kept for ages as the vinegar is a preservative.