Jim:
As an Alaskan survivalist I concur with everything Brad in Texas had to say. Alaska has many distinct advantages as a retreat location. However, it also has some major disadvantages. First and foremost is the amount of work involved. You must have a way to get fuel for heating. If you can’t use vehicles and chain saws, most of your summer will likely be taken up getting ready for winter. The same applies to food. You would have to grow enough vegetables during the short summer to last seven or eight months. Thankfully, game is available all year, so you probably won’t starve. Alaska is great for people who are able and willing to work really hard.
As for the spirit of Alaska, what Brad says is true outside the major cities. I would estimate that only 5% of Juneau and Anchorage residents and 20% of Fairbanks residents have any concept of survival in hard times. Most people in the cities essentially live in a bubble, with no real contact with nature at its harshest. Even in Alaska! Juneau is jokingly referred to as “Seattle North” and Anchorage as “Los Anchorage.” If you consider Alaska as a retreat location, it would be wise to avoid the major cities. In a SHTF scenario, the helpless refugees would overwhelm the surrounding countryside just as in the lower 48.
K.L. – Alaska
JWR:
We lived in Alaska for almost three years, we miss it. Here is our Wish List for our next trip:
Snow machines [called snowmobiles in some parts of the US], purchased in the Lower 48
More gear
More guns
More knowledge of the laws going in and out of the borders
Have a gun shop picked out up there ASAP for weapons you will not be able to carry into Canada or back into the US (handguns and [so-called] assault rifles)
All records for animals
Go on the ferry to avoid Canada
Some of the larger problems facing newcomers in Alaska is the lack of light in the winter, the lack of fresh fruits and veggies, activities in the winter, the isolation, the cold….
The suicides are on the average 20% higher in Alaska than anywhere else in the US. The alcohol abuse is so rampant that in some of the more desolate towns there is rationing of alcohol or there is none period.
Most go up there totally unprepared for the struggles of everyday life. We lived in Anchorage and it wasn’t that bad. There are a few books that can give you a rundown on the worst (Death Stalks the Land is a good reference). The people who went there unprepared and paid for it with their lives. Even those who lived there 20 years are not immune to getting caught unaware.
Everything thing you need to get has to be shipped overseas including grain for livestock and hay, milk, tools, some building supplies and clothing. The natives do produce some things. However, most do it for the tourists that show up.
There are many tales of those that made it up there but for each one of those there is one or more that lost limb or life trying.
There is a book on the last homesteader to go to Alaska and it is a real eye opener.
The plusses: The constant daylight in some areas [in summer] makes for incredible food and if you can fruits and veggies, you’ll be better for it.
The Icelandic Horses can and will eat dry or fresh fish and there is plenty of that.
You can’t beat the hunting and fishing.
It is incredibly beautiful, summer or winter.
I will leave you with this – It’s a very long way to go for help or to help anyone while there, if you go you will truly be on your own. – TD