>Rating: 5

Great Bear Canister

Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer

I have both the BV500 and BV450. I really like the transparency of the main container as it makes it alot easier to see when searching for items. Both because you can look through from the outside to locate and item and because it is not like looking down into a black hole from the top. Makes it much more useful. I have had some challenges with releasing the locking mechanism, especially at colder temperatures. Basically you have to depress the side of the black plastic lid in about 1/8" to allow the latch to clear the stop (twice because there are 2 locks). And in the cold, the plastic is just that much stiffer to depress. It is easy at 70 deg F, manageable at 50 deg F and downright challenging at 30 deg F. HOWEVER, I have a wonderful solution to not ever have to deal with depressing these locks...use an old hotel room key card or credit card. You simply place the card vertically in the locking mechanism such that the card is inside the outer catch on the main container and outside the triangular latch on the lid. Then you can rotate the lid and the card creates a little ramp where the latch just slides past the catch. It works wonderfully at all temps. And I took this a step further by mounting one of those adhesive silicone card holders for phone backs onto the top of the lid so the card is always easily accessible.