How do I export data from vaults in my 1password.com account

After a day of extensivly mapping the functionality of the various products, I think I found a workflow to get my data back and ensure that I don't miss anything, but it's really ugly:

Part A: add a synced vault to iOS (along with 1 password account)
1.) create a new vault on 1 password 4 for windows
2.) copy the vault to dropbox
3.) add the dropbox sync'd vault on an iOS device sync'd with your 1password account

Part B: create an export vault
1.) login to the my.1password.com webpage and create an export vault.
(This will allow you to copy vaults in batches and then move the copied records ensuring none are missed in the export and that the original vaults aren't accidentally altered.)

Part C: Move batches:
1.) open 1Password 6 beta for windows and go to the vault you want to export
2.) right-click on a password record and -> select all
3.) right click and "copy to" the Export vault that you created in Part B. (oh if only we could copy directly to the dropbox sync'd vault)
4.) go back to your ios device and open the export vault
5.) open each individual record and move to... the dropbox sync'd vault created in Part A. (that's ~6 or so gestures/clicks times 100's of records)
6.) After you move each individual record you can create a backup of the dropbox safe in settings and sync to a PC with itunes.
7.) delete all records from the dropbox sync'd database in iPassword for windows and start over with the next safe.

This will take me a very long time to complete and it's definitely not a backup solution.

I'm giving up for the weekend. Hopefully I have missed something obvious somewhere and there's an easier way around this mess.

I agree that regular local backups would ideally be fully encrypted and easy to perform. The lack of any export from the system makes me nervous about lock-in, and the lack of either export or local backup makes me downright claustrophobic.

Well, that's of kind of my problem. I've already been using the 1password account for months and my data is trapped there now. That is the root issue. I haven't found a way transfer back to "without an account". The only options I've found are:

A.) move each individual password record with my iphone in the convoluted process described above to a new dropbox sync'd opvault or
B.) go back and manually update the last few months changes to the database on my previous password application.

Both of those options are going to be time consuming, tedious and unpleasant. I don't mean to be overly dramatic, but based on your last response I want to make sure that I'm clear and you understand my situation before I spend the time doing this the hard way.