Good data point. Ray and I were just discussing this yesterday vis-a-vis our upcoming Alaska trip.

 

In the washington area (east and west sides of Washington State), I have not had a problem coming or going with my jerry cans, which are not CARB compliant. The stories I have heard are you can go into Canada but some border patrol officers won't let you back into the states with the non-Carb compliant jerry cans. My first 2 border crossings worried me, now I think it is just a myth that happened once.

There are rules about how much fuel you can carry across the border, but right now I cannot find the exact amount but it is somewhere around 20g as a max. Prior the fuel limit was on their website, but I am not seeing it now so rules may have changed since my last trip late summer 2015. When asked, I tell them how much fuel I have and that it is for my trip that is so many days long. They basically just want to make sure you are not bringing it in and selling it; gas is $$ in Canada I have never been searched, and I could see if they were making you go over to the holding area to be searched that during a search they may find things like non-carb compliant fuel cans that they could confiscate. In general just follow the rules and you will be fine.
Travellers - Bring Goods Across the Border

Into CA or US, they care about chicken & eggs (cooked or raw), alcohol, tobacco/cigars, drugs, weapons. Be wearing of knives and saws... they must be tools. If you have a large assortment of knives on you they may have a problem with that. Everytime I go into CA or back into the US, when asked about weapons, firearms or knives, I say something like I have a couple knives that are tools for my trip. Every trip I have brought a few knives and couple saws that I keep in my jeep or in my camping gear bin all the time, but they are also out of site and packed away.

In my experience, US border patrol is more of a PITA than CA. I've been questioned and probed more from US border agents.

One thing that is good to know in the Washington area, but I do not know if it is true for east and central US is mud on your vehicle. I have come back into the states with a dirty jeep, but I could tell the agent was on the fence of not letting me pass. It is good practice to wash dirt and mud from wheeling off before going thru a border crossing. I have heard many stories about people being turned around to go wash the mud off their jeep before they could cross in both directions.

 

Nice video, seems like that Jeep has been everywhere Mark. How many miles you got on it now?

 

181K miles. Still a great many places to explore. Stay tuned!

 

I had 3 good and one horrible Canadian crossing. The one bad one was a hour of them going through my Jeep & Trailer. I was questioned about any fire arms, told them that I didn't bring any because of there laws, showed them my knifes and bear spray, they took my phone from me and started going through my jeep and trailer throwing things on the ground, all because the found a hard mount gun holster, that they ripped out, lucky not damaging the center console. It took me 45 mins to all my stuff back into my Jeep & trailer

 

Do you think they will just believe you when you say you don't have a gun? That gun holster is reasonable grounds to search which they did, found nothing and sent you on your way. That's like pulling someone from the lineup that set off the drug tester, and saying I don't have any.....ok you can go! They are just doing their job. I can guarantee that they saw something to take your phone from you etc. They just don't do that without a reason....Maybe saw your holster in the beginning.

 

I have no problem with that, but that does not give them the right to throw my stuff on the ground, not place it on the ground, throw it on the ground. that also doesn't give them the right to rip the holster out, it was mounted in there. So truck or Jeeps with gun racks on them, you must be caring a gun. A holster has never, been a dangerous weapon. They asked if I had weapons, which I did not, they did not ask if I had a way to carry them.

Again, thinking there is a problem is one thing, but treading another person property and belongs without respect is not acceptable.

the other crossings the people where nice and still did their job, at this crossing they where not.

 

Yeah that's not cool. Although I doubt a complaint would go very far unfortunately.

 

Nope probably just get you tagged so every time you go thru you get hassled.

 

Hey everyone, here's my new jk from Australia.

3inch teraflex lift.
AEV snorkel.
Uneek dual battery tray holding two optimas being charged by a redarc dcdc charger.
35inch federal mts on steel rims.
Uniden uhf mounted under the driver seat.
Electronic rust proofing and tow package.

Many more touring mods to come!