Of course, the expiry dates are almost certainly nonsense. If the gear has been stored in clean, dry conditions, absolutely nothing is going to happen to it. R

Of course, the expiry dates are almost certainly nonsense. If the gear has been stored in clean, dry conditions, absolutely nothing is going to happen to it. Rather like medications. There was a study a while back that tested drugs that were produced at various times - all the way back to the 1960s. Almost without exception, they were still fine. In the cases of the oldest drugs, some had lost up to (iirc) 40% of their potency, so dosages might not be correct. Artificially short expiry dates are set for various reasons: (a) to limit the company's liability to a short time span, (b) to encourage discards, so they can sell you more of the same, and (c) to account for people who store items in poor conditions.