Moving to Alaska

T

TaskForceK

Joined
Aug 29, 2018
Messages
36
I haven't posted here nearly like I used to years ago (although, honestly, it doesn't seem like many people do (which saddens me)). Just thought I would open up a thread about my upcoming move to Alaska and see what happens. Moving near Soldotna mid-September.

Oh, also, waiting on the postman to deliver his and hers LT Wright Overland Machetes...so, that's happening, too.
 
TaskForceK said:
I haven't posted here nearly like I used to years ago (although, honestly, it doesn't seem like many people do (which saddens me)). Just thought I would open up a thread about my upcoming move to Alaska and see what happens. Moving near Soldotna mid-September.

Oh, also, waiting on the postman to deliver his and hers LT Wright Overland Machetes...so, that's happening, too.
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Awesome! Are you going to be city/suburbia folk, or do the homesteading thing?

Enjoy the firewood acquisition!
 
rhino said:
Awesome! Are you going to be city/suburbia folk, or do the homesteading thing?

Enjoy the firewood acquisition
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We will be off grid.

I know...I know. I'm trying to decide if I want a hydraulic log splitter attachment for the Kubota I haven't bought yet.
 
I process a fair bit of firewood and have a hydraulic log splitter. My observation is that if the wood is easy to split, using an axe is a lot faster than a log splitter. If the wood is knotty, using the log splitter is faster. So it comes down to what type of wood you're processing.

I'm in Australia so maybe this doesn't translate to the type of wood you have. Also my splitter is a stand alone one and maybe it operates differently to a tractor attachment. Actually I have a Kubota and never realised you could put log splitter on it.

Good luck with your move! Sounds awesome.
 
Congrats on the move- Alaska is the most beautiful bit of this planet I’ve laid eyes on.

I love to swing an axe for the pure joy of using one of the greatest tools known to man, but if I needed firewood for heat I would definitely invest in a splitter. Best case scenario: you destroy your shirts when you accidentally flex while doing casual things. Worst case scenario: you have a way to split wood for heat once the blisters rupture and your back gives out.

I’ve been eyeballing LT Wright knives for months- I like what they are doing with steel, even if I can’t justify the purchase. Very jealous of your whole situation.
 
TaskForceK said:
We will be off grid.

I know...I know. I'm trying to decide if I want a hydraulic log splitter attachment for the Kubota I haven't bought yet.
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If you have the resources for a splitter, then it seems like a wise investment. You can still split like a manly man and not use it, but if you don't have it you only have one option. I find the amount of wood needed for an Alaska winter a mind boggling quantity, though. Down here in Indiana, wood for heat is an option or supplement. Up there, it's life.
 
Currawong said:
I process a fair bit of firewood and have a hydraulic log splitter. My observation is that if the wood is easy to split, using an axe is a lot faster than a log splitter. If the wood is knotty, using the log splitter is faster. So it comes down to what type of wood you're processing.

I'm in Australia so maybe this doesn't translate to the type of wood you have. Also my splitter is a stand alone one and maybe it operates differently to a tractor attachment. Actually I have a Kubota and never realised you could put log splitter on it.

Good luck with your move! Sounds awesome.
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To be fair...we will have oil heat as an option as well. I just don't want to have to rely on it if I don't have to. Plus, it's an excuse to buy a tractor.

When I was quite young, more years ago than I care to think about, my dad had a Kubota with two splitting attachments. one was a typical splitter but the other was some sort of ginormous screw that split the wood and made an awful squealing from the wood. Honestly, it scared the snot out of me. I had nightmares about tripping and having that huge screw go into my eye and split my head like a log. Thanks, this has been really cathartic to talk about...I'll leave my co-pay with your receptionist.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Congrats on the move- Alaska is the most beautiful bit of this planet I’ve laid eyes on.

I love to swing an axe for the pure joy of using one of the greatest tools known to man, but if I needed firewood for heat I would definitely invest in a splitter. Best case scenario: you destroy your shirts when you accidentally flex while doing casual things. Worst case scenario: you have a way to split wood for heat once the blisters rupture and your back gives out.

I’ve been eyeballing LT Wright knives for months- I like what they are doing with steel, even if I can’t justify the purchase. Very jealous of your whole situation.
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I was involved in an industrial accident several years back and my spine was left in a fairly ruinous state so a splitter may be my best option.

I've picked up several of LT's little gems in the past few years, so has my wife. I thought she was going to leave me for her GNS the way she eyed it straight out of the box. My favorite is the Scandi Patriot in a KSF pocket sheath with a Victorinox Walker in the secondary sheath slot ( the walker doesn't get the love it deserves and if Vic makes it in an Alox, I'll be first in line). The Patriot is just about the handiest pocket fixed blade you could ask for (and replaced my 20 year old AG Russell Woodswalker which had been sharpened to a nub). I struggled for a bit sharpening his AEB-L steel Small Northern Hunter until I found the secret...it only needs a FEATHER LIGHT touch on the stone to make it ridiculously sharp. I picked up a Jessmuk and within an hour had put a ding in that lovely, all-curve, 3V blade when I accidentally hit a fencing staple. I was pretty bummed...until I saw the staple was cut clean through. The ding has sharpened out but the smile remains.

I was stationed in Alaska decades ago and thought the crazy-thick bowies popular then would be just the ticket for Alaska trail chores. I was more than a little wrong. I had a buddy in the motor pool cut a GI machete down to a manageable length and found it, other than the handle, to be just what Goldilocks wanted. I'm thinking these Overland machetes should scratch that itch again.
 
Currawong said:
I have two LT Wright GNS, full height convex in AEB-L. So I'm with your wife on this one. 😁
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You're with my wife? Would you mind smoking your cigars on the front porch: I keep smelling them when I get home.

Seriously, though... what has your experience been with AEB-L? Anything similar to mine? You don't have to post a reply...just tell my wife and she'll text it to me.

You should have seen her reaction to the Camp Muk... it was 50 shades of something.
 
TaskForceK said:
I'm pretty sure my entire youth was spent preparing for a Maximum Overdrive situation.
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TaskForceK said:
Would you mind smoking your cigars on the front porch: I keep smelling them when I get home.
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TaskForceK said:
You don't have to post a reply...just tell my wife and she'll text it to me.
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TaskForceK said:
You should have seen her reaction to the Camp Muk... it was 50 shades of something.
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… I think we’re going to be friends.
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
 
TaskForceK said:
You're with my wife? Would you mind smoking your cigars on the front porch: I keep smelling them when I get home.

Seriously, though... what has your experience been with AEB-L? Anything similar to mine? You don't have to post a reply...just tell my wife and she'll text it to me.

You should have seen her reaction to the Camp Muk... it was 50 shades of something.
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Don't be so literal. Of course I'm not actually with your wife. I live in Australia, we use Zoom.

I've been on an AEBL binge lately. Two custom fillet knives, one custom hunting knife, two LT Wright, and just picked up a CPK UF in AEBL as well. I love it because of the thin edge you can get without having to worry about it. Gets screaming sharp with very little effort. I'm a lazy sharpener but I like sharp knives so its a great steel for me.
 
Currawong said:
Don't be so literal. Of course I'm not actually with your wife. I live in Australia, we use Zoom.
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Well, that's got to be super convenient for you... when I leave for work, it's like 8 PM your time (but you guys use metric time, right? let me do the math...). You can put in a long 3.33 hour day mining for boomerangs, get home, snort a jar of Vegemite, take your kangaroo for a walk, "Zoom" my wife, enjoy your backward flushing toilet, then go to sleep on your bed made of live koala. See, I understand Australia. This why Americans are respected everywhere we go... we are truly citizens of the world.
 
My Sister In-law & her husband use to work at Denali Natl. Park years ago. Visited them back in '98 while still in the Army. We visited Kenai Fjord, Seward, & hiked around Denali. An Army buddy's son an his wife settled near Ft. Richardson so we got an open invite from them. Buddy is trying to talk me into a hunting trip there. Beautiful country, but not sure if I'd like to live there long term. I like pizza delivery, cable, and the internet :) Sister In-law ended up moving because the long nights started to mess with her. Seasonal Affective Disorder. Sucked cause she had a good job teaching at the University of Alaska & they took a loss trying to sell their house.

If I lived there I'd invest in a log splitter. Using an axe might be fine, but I'd like to have the option of a log splitter in case my back/hands/arms are sore/injured - or I just want to be lazy.
 
Halfneck said:
My Sister In-law & her husband use to work at Denali Natl. Park years ago. Visited them back in '98 while still in the Army. We visited Kenai Fjord, Seward, & hiked around Denali. An Army buddy's son an his wife settled near Ft. Richardson so we got an open invite from them. Buddy is trying to talk me into a hunting trip there. Beautiful country, but not sure if I'd like to live there long term. I like pizza delivery, cable, and the internet :) Sister In-law ended up moving because the long nights started to mess with her. Seasonal Affective Disorder. Sucked cause she had a good job teaching at the University of Alaska & they took a loss trying to sell their house.

If I lived there I'd invest in a log splitter. Using an axe might be fine, but I'd like to have the option of a log splitter in case my back/hands/arms are sore/injured - or I just want to be lazy.
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I was stationed at Fort Richardson in the early 90's...speaking of Alaska and pizza, Muldoon Pizza in Anchorage! I don't know how it is now, but I'm living proof that you can live on it long-term. Back in the day, you could order extra grease as a topping.

Let your buddy talk you into it. I built my wife a .223 Ackley a few years back (she wanted a distance rifle but, because she has a port in her chest, recoil is an issue) that may be just about right for Alaskan coyote. Before anybody says anything, I know everybody has an opinion on Ackley cartridges (and Ackley).

We've already stocked up on Vitamin D for the long nights. We're in delivery range of a pizza joint plus other places and we will have the internet. We'll just have to fight bears for our pizza and our internet is solar-powered... I'm not going full Proenekke. I'm too old and lazy (and out of shape) to have those sort of adventurous aspirations.

Looks like the Whittier ferry is booked solid for awhile, so we've altered our plans to drive through Canada. Considering that it's an international border crossing and I've got guns and knives and dogs and a ton of medical supplies, the paperwork is nowhere near as bad as it could be.
 
Currawong said:
I process a fair bit of firewood and have a hydraulic log splitter. My observation is that if the wood is easy to split, using an axe is a lot faster than a log splitter. If the wood is knotty, using the log splitter is faster. So it comes down to what type of wood you're processing.
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Agree!

It also comes down to the type of log splitter. I’ve noticed the cheap models are frustratingly slow, making an axe much quicker. But the more expensive models are much better. Technique and control options are also factors - with shorter logs, being able to stop the cylinder “returning to zero” before moving to split the next log, can also save time.
 
TaskForceK said:
I was involved in an industrial accident several years back and my spine was left in a fairly ruinous state so a splitter may be my best option
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If you’ve got a glass back, it might be worth checking out local prices for ready split firewood.
I find the lifting of largish birch logs on to the splitter to be more demanding than swinging an axe.

For the price of my splitter, I could have had 36m3 of ready split and seasoned firewood delivered to the yard. That’s without the felling, limbing, carrying to splitter, carrying to drying and then back to the woodsheds. Phew, your situation has got me questioning my own 🤣
 
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