I'm thinking of building a nixie clock. I'm a bit concerned about the lifetime of the nixie tubes. A lot of old Soviet tubes are for sale on eBay. I've seen several datasheets it seems like the guaranteed lifetime is generally 5000 hours. That's less than a year and it seems too short. I don't want a clock that is a curiosity, to be turned on once in a while to show off to people. I want to use it all the time.
So what tubes should I use and where can I get them?