Canada - Alaska Theft Concerns

[ford-willy]

Been planning our first 3 month mid May Canada & Alaska trip for 2 years now. We have 2 trailers and are taking our 25 foot TT and leaving the big 5ver home.

An issue with the TT is the huge lack of storage. My wife wants most of the small under belly storage for her plastic bins. -- I plan on putting some items in the back seat of our crew cab. But since we are traveling with friends we know we may need the back seat for them on some side trips.

I have an 8 foot truck bed and plan on taking my 2 Honda 2000 generators, tool box, Craftsman compressor, jug of diesel & gas, propane, small propane fire pit, large aluminum lockable box/trunk for misc truck & fuel items. My wife says it will all get stolen without something like a camper shell or Tonneau cover.

I told her I'm not buying an expensive camper shell for one trip. We have a 5ver to tow sometimes and no place to store a shell. I guess a Tonneau cover could work if it is a tri fold and not a tilt up, because I want to be able to stand up in the truck bed to work and access things. And would a Tonneau really stop easy theft?

So anyway to those of you who have made this trip before, should we be worried about theft, how did you handle truck bed storage, and any relevant advice please.

[fulltimedaniel]

Veebyes wrote:
My question is why are you not taking the 5er? What you will spend making your stuff secure, to say nothing of the inconvenience of being in the small TT is way more than any extra fuel cost.

We have done Alaska 3 times from the East Coast dragging our 34' 5er everytime. Hoping to do it again next year. The North is crawling with 5ers of all sizes.

X2 Xactly...there are plenty of big rigs going to Alaska. Some much bigger than yours 40+ ft Class A's etc.

The difference in fuel although very expensive in Canada, would be minimal.

From the FBI regarding property crime:

"... the property crime rate was 2,487.0 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants...the property crime rate declined 3.4 percent.Sep 26, 2016

But I have to agree with one poster who said he had never had anything stolen anywhere...that is also my experience and I have traveled the world and every state of the US.

Don't buy into the rhetoric, don't live in fear. The vast majority of all people are good and honest.

My guess is you are much more likely to be hit by lightening.

[nevadanick]

Just lock what you can with a cable or chain in the bed of truck and dont worry about it.

[2gypsies1]

I'd take the big RV. We spent the summer on the trip with our 40' motorhome towing the Jeep. We used public parks solely or boondocking. We had no problem fitting into Provincial sites in Canada and the Yukon or other types of public parks in Alaska. We even stayed in Denali at Teklanika campground - the farthest one you can drive... gravel road. We didn't have to do any tree trimming and encountered no snow in May when we left. I think you're overthinking this trip. If you use your big one in the lower 48 you'll have no problem with the trip.

Get Mike and Terri Church's book 'Alaskan Camping' which includes Canada and the Yukon. Their campsite descriptions are right on and they include boondocking spots, too. You'll see many, many big RVs on the roads. Propane is readily available as is fuel. Just drive on the top 1/2 of your tank and don't try to wait for a better price. The trip isn't the horror stories you might have read about that happened years ago.

[free_radical]

ford-willy wrote:
Been planning our first 3 month mid May Canada & Alaska trip for 2 years now. We have 2 trailers and are taking our 25 foot TT and leaving the big 5ver home.

An issue with the TT is the huge lack of storage. My wife wants most of the small under belly storage for her plastic bins. -- I plan on putting some items in the back seat of our crew cab. But since we are traveling with friends we know we may need the back seat for them on some side trips.

I have an 8 foot truck bed and plan on taking my 2 Honda 2000 generators, tool box, Craftsman compressor, jug of diesel & gas, propane, small propane fire pit, large aluminum lockable box/trunk for misc truck & fuel items. My wife says it will all get stolen without something like a camper shell or Tonneau cover.

I told her I'm not buying an expensive camper shell for one trip. We have a 5ver to tow sometimes and no place to store a shell. I guess a Tonneau cover could work if it is a tri fold and not a tilt up, because I want to be able to stand up in the truck bed to work and access things. And would a Tonneau really stop easy theft?

So anyway to those of you who have made this trip before, should we be worried about theft, how did you handle truck bed storage, and any relevant advice please.

You dont need to worry IF you hide and secure everything where no thiefs can get it..
There are good and bad people everywhere..making your valuables hard target to get is just plai common sense..

[ford-willy]

Veebyes wrote:
My question is why are you not taking the 5er? What you will spend making your stuff secure, to say nothing of the inconvenience of being in the small TT is way more than any extra fuel cost.

We have done Alaska 3 times from the East Coast dragging our 34' 5er everytime. Hoping to do it again next year. The North is crawling with 5ers of all sizes.

time2roll wrote:
+1 to take the larger RV with the space you need.
Otherwise leave the extra stuff at home.

Good question. The reason we have the additional trailer, the 25ft TT is the following.

1. We have the smaller TT because the big 5ver simply won't maneuver and fit in most of our very favorite tight Forest Service campgrounds. We figured we would have the same problem in many sites on this trip. Meaning we could only stop at "roomy" government and other campsites. My research here on this forum has seemed to indicate that tightness has been a problem for some at campsites they encountered. We want to be free to park or stop anywhere.

2. Our Grand Junction 5ver has a super high profile. I'm 6-7 and can stand in the bedroom with inches to spare. The unit height we thought would cause problems in some campgrounds. Trees and such have been a problem at many spots in the past. I've had to get on the roof to cut limbs many times.

3. I live in a ski resort at 7,000 ft. I've pulled our horses in their trailer many times in snow.I'm used to snow. We are going to be in Banff & Jasper for a week mid May. I was told we may encounter snowy roads on the first part of the trip or even later. IF that should happen we would rather be pulling 6,000 lbs rather than 16,000.

4. Our big 5ver has a huge double door full size refrigerator. It goes through much more propane and battery use powering the small refer compressor as also does the forced air heater. We have dry camped many times in places like Quartzite Az. and umless you can run a generator frequently the batteries wont last very long. I understand provincial parks have generator restrictions.--- The newer TT has 100% LED lighting and all the appliances are more battery friendly.

Having said that, we just felt the smaller TT would be more practical and campy.We are perfectly comfortable in it. We own an RV lot in Az. and winter and snowbird there for months on end in the big 5ver. We want this trip to be more of an adventure than plush.

[time2roll]

+1 to take the larger RV with the space you need.
Otherwise leave the extra stuff at home.

[Veebyes]

My question is why are you not taking the 5er? What you will spend making your stuff secure, to say nothing of the inconvenience of being in the small TT is way more than any extra fuel cost.

We have done Alaska 3 times from the East Coast dragging our 34' 5er everytime. Hoping to do it again next year. The North is crawling with 5ers of all sizes.

[Lwiddis]

"I am the frequent recipient of "Get out of the way old man!"

Two hands, my walker and I have the right of way!

[TucsonJim]

I've used good chains and padlocks for years and I've never had anything stolen out of the back of my truck. If a person goes to all the trouble to bring a chain cutter with them, they'd also most likely have the tools to break into a tonneau cover, camper shell or your trailer.

Jim

[sljohnson1938]

jetcare wrote:
Buy something used and sell it on Craigslist when you get back.

***************************************************

I agree with this one. If you can get something at a good price, and then resell it, you break even and you have the security needed.

[2gypsies1]

How comfortable would you feel about all that stuff in your open truck touring in the lower 48? You have some valuable things there - at least use chains and locks to keep it secure.

That said, Canada and Alaska are no different that what you're used to. There are thieves and honest people everywhere. Distance isn't going to make a difference. Load up your RV and truck the night before you leave California and let it sit on a public street. Would you feel o.k. doing that?

[guidry]

Get a Bakflip tonneau cover, lockable with a locking tailgate. You can leave it on with the 5th wheel and just fold it out of the way. Perfect with a TT and you can lock the generators in the bed with chain or bike locks and just leave them there. Everything else can go under it too and it is pretty much weather proof. You will want to keep it but could sell it after your trip.

[Tyler0215]

Buy a used topper or tonneau cover, and sell it when you get back.

[Two_Hands]

I feel the same way as the GordonThree. After over 32 years in law enforcement I know how much theft goes on and how many bad people are out there. But with thousands of miles in rv travel, to include two drives to Alaska, we have never had anything stole. However, we never stay in bad looking campgrounds or bad areas or in a place that just doesn't feel right. And we don't tempt fate by leaving a generator or other valuable camping item out in the open.

[oldokie]

I had the same problem in 2004 when we made the trip. I made a box out of 3/4 inch plywood with hinged front and back lids that I put pad locks on.The box just fit inside the bed and was the same depth as the top of the bed rails. It wasn't real pretty but it kept everything out of site. I would do it again if I needed covered storage.