I suppose it can burst but, I have a length of 1" Kitec that is not yet buried. It has been down to 4 degrees in the past week and I just had to take a torch to it so I could water my horses. The fittings are buried so they didn't freeze. The pipe is fine and I will bury it in a couple of weeks when I get around to it. Speaking of fittings, Kitec can be ordered in 300' foot rolls so that means less couplings. That in turn means fewer weak links. I can roll out 300' feet of Kitec straighter and a whole lot easier than a 100' roll of copper.