Planning my move to Fairbanks

[Swift]

If you were to give any advice on someone moving to Fairbanks what would your top 3 things be?

I have a job opportunity to move to Fairbanks and work at an AF base.
I will be retiring from the USMC in April and going to a couple months of training for the job in Florida, then immediately heading to Fairbanks.

I'm an avid outdoorsman who grew up in Wyoming so the cold isn't a scare for me, but going up there solo means I don't even know what I don't know and I don't know anyone up there.
Its always been a dream of mine to live in Alaska, but this is moving so fast I have to really do some research and I'm trying to eliminate as many snags as possible

Ive heard the best option for winterizing my truck (2017 GMC Sierra 2500HD with the gas engine) is to just get it done by the pros when I get there. I will be buying an enclosed trailer to haul all of my firearms and other critical items I cant have shipped by the moving company.
I plan on trying to rent an apartment for a few months to try and figure out the are I want to focus on buying a house in.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[mallardsx2]

Money, Money and More Money.

Its expensive to live up there.

Bring a flashlight too. Its dark for most of the day for several months out of the year.

 

[Winchester]

I lived in Fairbanks for 4 years a long time ago (late '80s) and I loved it!
I was in in Army and worked on Fort Wainwright, I assume you'll be on Eielson AFB.
I lived in the North Pole (really) which is a nice spot basically in between the two bases and a little South of Fairbanks.
There are others on this Forum with current info who'll probably weigh-in.
From my dated info, I'd say not to worry overly much about money as local wages generally match the economy.

Three things to think about might be;
1) Getting your truck winterized. It's really not very hard and since you're moving in the summer you can do it up there.
2) Unless the laws have changed you won't be considered a Resident for hunting purposes for 1 year ... so plan for that.
3) If you can afford it, plan to but a couple of toys (4-wheeler, snow-machine, etc). These can really add to your hunting experience up there and be a whole lot of fun too.

Good luck!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

If you plan on driving thru Canada, check out the firearms laws. You will have to declare them at the border and handguns can be a problem. Might be better to have an FFL in the lower 48 ship them to an FFL in Fairbanks. In any case check them out in advance.

 

[AKaviator]

I like Fairbanks but it's been some time since I've lived there. If I wanted to live there again, I would look to buy a home that is on one of the ridges. I lived on the hillside above Goldstream road. It gives you a view and is generally above the level of the ice-fog in the winter. It's usually warmer too, as it's gets into the inversion layer of air. Chena Ridge is similar.

Yep, it's dark and can be cold in the winter. They just came thru a stretch of 40-50 below 0 weather. I'm sure you're up to it. Your truck too. I do think it's good advice to get it winterized up there unless you are already living in a cold climate.

It is expensive to live there but not horribly so. I think that you'll love it there, but in my experience, no one is "neutral" to living there. They either love it or hate it. Not much in-between. The biggest gripe is generally the long stretches of darkness more than the cold.

Good luck on your move, congratulations on the new job and thanks for your service.

 

[Bonecollector]

Some good advice already provided by Winchester and AKaviator.
Keep us posted- sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Swift]

Thanks for all of the responses. Good intel cant be beat.
I definitely plan on buying some toys (the retirement check will be my fun money).

I plan on just doing a bunch of Non resident bird hunting for the first year and then getting a resident moose and caribou tag.
The info about buying higher up on a ridge is priceless, exactly one of the things I didn't know and can make a huge difference.
Ive been looking all around the area for houses, but I really need to get there and actually drive the areas to see what is best (and I'm still 6 months away from being there).

 

[hunter25]

Having spent a few weeks there the last couple years I was surprised the prices are very little higher than where I live in colorado.
Gas about 30 cents a gallon more. Food nearly identical. I work in the grocery business so know those prices well.
Now once you get about 50 miles out of town the prices go up considerably. Over 5 dollars a gallon for gas depending where you are.

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[Team Kabob]

Don?t over think it. You hunt and will fit right in! Live for the seasons and keep busy during the winter when it?s dark!


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[Swift]

Don?t over think it. You hunt and will fit right in! Live for the seasons and keep busy during the winter when it?s dark!


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I do have a habit of overthinking things. I'm sure it will all work out just fine and I will love my new life in paradise.
Winter sounds like a great opportunity to master reloading ammo.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I do have a habit of overthinking things. I'm sure it will all work out just fine and I will love my new life in paradise.
Winter sounds like a great opportunity to master reloading ammo.

Great idea...but the only thing you will have to worry about is the testing of your loads. Maybe there is an indoor range that will allow big bore rifles.

 

[Winchester]

Great idea...but the only thing you will have to worry about is the testing of your loads. Maybe there is an indoor range that will allow big bore rifles.

I don't remember an indoor range like that up there, but you can shoot a lot of places outside.
And even though it will be cold, you get acclimatized to that pretty quickly.
We went to the field at -40 degrees (and below) regularly ... it wasn't as bad as it sounds.

 

[Swift]

I'm really hoping to have enough land to build at least a 200 yard range at my house. That would certainly help me fine tune the loads and quickly eliminate the ones that don't perform how I want.

I'm thinking a load of crusher run gravel with a couple feet of topsoil pushed on top of it would make a great backstop.

Growing up in Wyoming I loved the cold weather activities so I don't see my body taking too long to re-acclimate to the temps (not equating Wy to AK, but sub zero temps were a fact of life there as well, just not as far below zero as AK)

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

The one thing I was thinking about is using a chronograph. I use one in ALL my load testing and the are very sun sensitive. In the winter up there when the sun is really low in the sky, it might effect the ability of one to give accurate readings.

 

[Winchester]

The one thing I was thinking about is using a chronograph. I use one in ALL my load testing and the are very sun sensitive. In the winter up there when the sun is really low in the sky, it might effect the ability of one to give accurate readings.

Great point CC!!
I didn't think of that.

 

[Swift]

that is a good point, I was planning on buying the Magneto speed chronograph and since it uses magnets instead of the optical sensor I think it would still work in the periods of darkness. And a chrono is a priceless tool when testing different loads