After getting some training, I thought I'd add combat gauze to my kit in the extremely unlikely event that I or someone gets shot at the range. (Don't worry. I go to pretty safe places.) So I went shopping online, and after I got over the sticker shock, I noticed that the shelf life of these $50 packages seems to be three or four years!

With regular gauze I wouldn't worry about an expiration date, but since combat gauze is impregnated with a hemostatic agent, I am wondering whether this is a real expiration date (as opposed to legalese). Maybe the agent gradually decays over time. Does anyone know?

I know there is an old type of combat gauze that comes in rolls, and the newer type that comes in z-folds, is vacuumed sealed, and uses kaolin in the hemostatic agent (which apparently means it generates no heat = good for the users). I wonder whether there is a shelf life difference there, too.

A one-time investment of $50 that's good for the next 20 years, seems worth it. Throwing away $50 every few years, not so much. The risk of a gunshot wound for me is very remote.

Thanks for the help!