The lights are glass  feel sturdy to the touch. They were well packaged on the inside with the bulbs in their own individual styrofoam pocket. The box however, was crushed on a corner which worried me, but all the lights worked upon plugging in. It comes with spare bulbs so if one did break  it would be ok. 50 feet of bulbs is quite long so it should be good for hanging around a porch. The bulbs are about a foot apart and there is 6 inches to the first bulb from the plug. There is also a female plug on the other end of the lights so you could buy another set to make the string longer. 
even longe