My strips have held up well, but I did put them in clear tubing to protect them from the zip ties and the weather (the a lesser extent). I have some in smaller tubing and some in 1" tubing. THe 1" was much easier to fish the flex strips through. I fished it through in two segments, so its not 100% waterproof, but is protected well. One strip was bad out of the box, but works fine during the show ... but has a couple LED(s) which stay on when the show is not running. I think a similar look could be achieved for less $$ using SS nodes.