Black Tie Affair

Anything I zip-tie in the sun now gets a Stainless Zip-Tie. 50 years from now they will look like they just came out of the bag.

Also consider an alternate fastener, such as white twist ties or white coated electrical wire, which may be rated for outdoor use.

I had some indoor-rated xmas lights, outdoors with no cover. I left them up for 10 years and their wires were ok.

I use neon colored ones outdoors and have not had one fail yet. Not permanent installations and I'd say I generally remove them after a couple years. I can look around for some more aged ones, see how they are doing. I dunno if white are wimpier though.

Being a very aesthetically oriented person, I'd say use the white you want and just position them so they are easy to replace. I'd bet you could get 3 years out of them, maybe more if not on a roof.

Might help to get the super fat ones.

Thomas and Betts makes colored UV ties.

The white ones will not last very long in direct sunlight. When building Traffic signals I always used the black as they were the only ones that were UV resistant. (even these are not forever, maybe 5 years at the most), the