Howdy --
I have BearVault 450 from ~2007. I was just packing for a trip to the Sierra this morn, and noticed the locking tab was apparently so worn that the tab easily moves past the "lock" when the lid is spun off.
I used the BV450 just 2 times before-- normally take just an ursack. However, I loaned it to a friend last year, and though she is a very careful type, she seems to have re-loaned it to someone else in the party. This guy was lagging and decided he needed to camp lower down (hence needed a separate vault-- party of 4). In any case, the BV450 certainly works differently than it did when I last tested it. You can spin the lid off without any interference from the tab.
Three questions:
1) Have you folks heard of a BV450 lock tab failing on its own, in this way? The person whom I loaned it to feels terrible, but I wonder if it isn't just some defect in the design. I know that in the past, it was pretty damn hard for me to get the lid off, and I had to press down that tab pretty hard to get it past the lock. Alternatively, maybe the guy who lagged just manhandled it-- the tab almost looks filed, but it could just be worn.
2) I'll be heading south of Horseshoe Meadow, through Trail Pass, down by the Kern River, for a fairly low-key 10-12 mile per day trip. How bearified is that area? I'm going with another group, and they planned the trip, so I have don't know much about that area. It looks like a popular place... and popularity usually means bears, especially on July 4 weekend.
3) If there is a bear problem down there... should I trust a BV450 without a positive lock, and hope the bears are too intimidated to try turning the lid? I could bring the ursack and hang it from a tree, but I'd sure prefer to have a canister. I could rent a heavy one at the interagency center, I suppose.
Thanks.... nasty last-minute surprise.