I have been using the Garcia for over a dozen years but never felt the need on a bike tour. On back country trips on foot I've fit 8 days worth in there but it is TIGHT. The Garcia is also a bit of a PIA because the lid is considerably smaller than the end diameter and it can make it difficult to extricate stuff. The BearVault is more user friendly in this regard. I only bought the Garcia because, believe it or not, here in NY at that time there was a specific female bear living in one of my frequent destinations that figured out how to open the BearVault cans, and IIRC they were taken off the "approved list" for the Adirondack High Peaks. I bet this was a unique situation...that bear is gone; I don't know if the regs have changed.