My wife & I recently came upon a box of microwavable popcorn that had expired in August of 1998. She insisted that we at least give it a try. We did, & it came out as if it were still 1998.
Bottom line: popcorn stores well; for over 10 years, in fact.

On equipment: You get what you inspect, not what you expect.
On training: Our drills are bloodless battles so that our battles are bloody drills.
On tactics: Cheating just means you're serious about winning.