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Reviews > Cook Gear > Bear Resistant Containers > BearVault BV200 > Laurie Shuster > Initial Report
Reviewer Information Laurie Shuster shustelm@yahoo.com Olympia, WA Age: 35, Female Height: 5 feet 5 inches (1.7 m) Weight: 125 pounds (57 kg) Backpacking Experience I’ve been a dayhiker since the mid-1980's and a backpacker since 1992. I love the outdoors and I get out as much as I can, taking daily walks/runs, weekly day hikes, monthly backpack trips, and occasional car camping adventures. I would not call myself a lightweight backpacker, but I am happy to say that my pack weight is gradually coming down. My goal is to have a manageable pack weight without sacrificing safety or a whole lot of comfort. Special Test Information BackpackGearTest began testing the BearVault model BV100 in February, 2004. The BV100 was the first version of this product, and as a result of our initial findings, the manufacturer improved the product. The testing process for the BV100 was stopped in early April. A brand new test series for the BV200 begins with this report. I will describe the BV200 fully, just as I would in an initial report of a new product, and I will detail the new modifications when appropriate. Product Description The BearVault is a transparent polycarbonate bear canister with a screw on lid that provides tool-less access to the canister.
Canister Body. The body of the canister is transparent and has a blue tint. Several features are molded into the plastic: 1) a wide, threaded opening, 2) two small bumps (the manufacturer calls these tabs) on the outer edge of the canister opening designed to lock with raised bumps on the lid, 3) a series of raised spots 7 inches (18 cm) long x 1 inch (3 cm) wide along the bottom and top edges of the canister to aid in securing the canister to a pack, and 4) two sets of raised parallel lines on either side of the canister at the base to help boots grip when opening and closing the can.
Canister Operation. No tools are needed to open the canister. Place the BearVault on the ground with the lid end up. Hold the canister firmly between your feet. Vertical lines are provided at the bottom of the base to give boots additional traction if needed. Place your hands around the top edges of the lid and turn counter-clockwise until the bumps on the rim pass the tabs on the base of the canister. It's best to turn the lid quickly at the beginning of the motion to ensure the tabs pass each other. Continue turning the lid until it reaches the end of the treads and comes off. To close the canister, place it on the ground with the opening facing up and hold it firmly between your feet. Screw the lid in a clockwise direction. It's best to turn the lid quickly as the lid reaches the end of the threads to ensure the bumps on the lid slide past the tabs on the canister, locking the lid in place. Product Observations I received the BearVault BV200 on May 24. I haven't tried the BV200 canister on the trail yet, but some of my observations from field testing the BV100 can be applied to the new model. Product features and operation. The feature of the BearVault that appeals to me the most is the clear plastic canister body. Looking through the sides of the canister gives me a good view of what's inside and where it's located without needing to remove the lid. To see items in the middle of the pile, I simply rotate the can and give it a few gentle shakes to shift items around. Its wide opening is also a plus and makes packing and accessing items a breeze. The easy to open, tool-less lid runs a close second as my next favorite feature of the BearVault. It takes just a few seconds to twist the lid on or off the base. No hunt for the multi-tool is needed, nor is there a struggle with stubborn screws. The BV200 lid and canister both have built in tabs that lock into place when the canister is closed. After trying the canister, I found that it is necessary to turn the lid quickly as the bumps on the lid move past the tabs on the canister. Turning the lid slowly can cause the lid to stop before it is actually locked. Even though I read the directions on the box, I didn't quite "get" the concept until after a few tries. Rewording the directions a bit might help make them more clear. This may sound picky, but moving the word "quickly" in the line in the instructions that reads "until the bumps on the rim snap quickly past the canister tabs" to a different part of the sentence could make the concept more clear. (Side note: The design of the lid is the most significant difference between the BV100 and BV200 models. The BV100 lid resembles a child proof cap from a medicine bottle, and uses a push down and turn motion to open the lid. Users of the BV200 do not need to push down on the center of the lid and turn. In the BV200 instructions, the manufacturer emphasizes the edges of the lid should be used to open the can, not the center.) In general, the new lid is a bit easier to turn and seems like an improvement over the old one. However, there is one feature of the old BV100 lid that I really do miss. The original lid had arrows printed on the top showing which way to turn the lid when putting it on or taking it off. These came in quite handy, especially when I was tired, hungry or otherwise distracted. The BearVault has two raised sets of parallel plastic lines at its base to aid with foot traction when opening or closing the can. So far I have not felt a great need to plant my feet on the ridges. I've opened the can with my feet positioned on the traction lines and with my feet on smooth areas of the can, and I've had equal success with both methods. It is nice to know those grip lines are there as insurance in case I ever do need additional traction. Securing the Canister. A series of raised dots are included at the top and bottom of the canister to be used as a guide for pack straps when attaching the BearVault to a pack. On my internal frame pack, I can secure the canister to tie down points along the middle of the pack, or to tie down loops found below the sleeping bag compartment. To do this, I hold the can near the pack, run one strap between the first line of dots and through the tie down on the pack. I do the same with another strap to the second row of dots. As I tighten the straps, I've found that balancing the canister and keeping the straps in place does take some attention and coordination. Fortunately, once the straps are tight, the system works well. The raised dots do a fine job of keep the straps from sliding off the canister while hiking. While testing the BV100, I tried backpacking with the empty canister suspended from the back of my pack. However, having extra weight hanging from the back of the pack and away from my body caused the pack to feel much heavier, leaving me with pain in my neck and shoulders. I've had similar experiences suspending other light but bulky items from the back of my pack, so I don't believe this is a problem that is inherent to the BearVault.
Documentation. Information about the BearVault is prominently displayed on the outside of the box. This includes directions for opening and closing the BearVault, suggestions for non-food items that should be stored in the canister, recommended storage distances from camp, instructions for securing it to a pack, and general information about why to use a bear canister. There are no brochures or information sheets inside the box. This is a great way of advertising the product, and I applaud the effort to save paper. Unfortunately, the shipping company placed a label over the instructions on my box, and I was not able to completely peel the label off. Fortunately, I was able to read through most of the label and got the gist of the covered areas. Field Test Conditions I plan on using the BearVault along the coast of the Pacific Northwest, in the Olympic Mountains and in the Cascade Mountains. We will be taking weekend backpack or car camping trips about once a month and are hoping to fit in a few three to four day backpack trips. Black bears and mountain lions are pretty common in this region, and we are on the fringe of grizzly habitat. Raccoons can also be quite a nuisance. They have become very adept and fearless at raiding camp food throughout Olympic National Park (one of our favorite places to backpack), so it will be interesting to see how they will react to the BearVault with its twist on lid. Weather conditions in the spring and fall will be cool and wet with nighttime low temperatures between 25 F and 45 F (-4 C and 7 C). Summer tends to be dry, with nightime temps typically be between 40 F and 55 F (4 C and 13 C). Test Plan We've been using a Bearikade bear canister for the past few years with great success. However, we always seem to start out on longer trips with more food and other bear bag-able items (toothpaste, sunscreen, etc.) than will fit in the can. I plan on using the BearVault as our primary food storage container and bringing our Bearikade along when necessary. It will be interesting to see if wildlife of all sizes react differently to the transparent BearVault as opposed to the opaque Bearikade. Will the chipmunks be more interested in our food since they can see it? Will the twist on lid keep the crafty raccoons perplexed? Bears in our area are learning that it's not worth their effort to go after bear cans. If a bear finds one of these, will it identify the transparent BearVault as a can that's hard to get into, or be more curious since the can's contents are visible? I am in NO way, shape or form interested in attracting any animals to our food! However, if the situation arises on its own, it will be interesting to see if animals react differently to the containers based on sight. I will also compare my experiences with the redesigned BearVault BV200 to the BV100 test experiences and include any observations that seem valuable. Read more reviews of BearVault gear Read more gear reviews by Laurie Shuster Reviews > Cook Gear > Bear Resistant Containers > BearVault BV200 > Laurie Shuster > Initial Report | |||||||||||||||
