What do I need to go to Alaska?

This is a subject that could go on forever!  In fact, I'm leaving tomorrow and I'm still not 100% on what to take.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  

I started researching again on advrider.com and a host of other sites about "Adventure Biking" trying to see what other people thought was needed.  I came across riders who thought you needed nothing more than a rolled up blanket, all the way to riders who thought you needed a trailer to tow along behind the bike to carry all the things you need going there and then the souvenirs on the way back.  Needless to say, I ended up some where in the middle.  At least I think it's the middle.  My wife thinks I'll never be able to get all that stuff on one bike.  I'll post later what I'm taking and a little of my logic.  

I'm going to try and camp as much as possible.  I'd like to be able to camp all the way there and back but I'm not sure I'm up to the Grizzly Adams life style.  Or as Willie Nelson sings about living on the road, with your "breath as hard as kerosene".  My wife doesn't think I can live that life style for long either.  We'll see.  

I would have loved to get a set of the metal panniers to add more space down low on the bike, but the cost was a little excessive, so I stuck with the stock BMW hard bags.  Added a PacSafe Tank Safe bag, a Cabela's 100% waterproof duffle bag (much larger than I anticipated) and a smaller, non-waterproof duffle bag.  We'll see how everything packs up.  

One thing is for sure.  I won't be taking any handguns.  The only bad(?) part of going to Alaska is that one must go through Canada to get there.  And I would suppose that just about everyone reading this  is aware that self defense is absolutely against the law in Canada.  Even unarmed self defense can be a felony charge in some circumstances.  There is a legal way to take handguns to Alaska but with Canadian law the way it is, if you found it necessary to shoot anything with it while in Canada (bear, mountain lion, rabid animal of any kind, or slime ball escaped serial killer, etc., etc.) you'd be off to prison for a long spell.  It's just not worth it.   As another song goes, "leave your guns at home, son".  End Rant.  

One thing that would be nice to take but I didn't find a way to arrange it, is a serious first aid kit.  After all, bike riders are prone to more serious injury when the rubber quits staying on the road, for whatever reason.   Plus, in the case of an Alaskan bike trip, we could be miles from any professinal help.  I guess one would have to have a good relationship with an M.D. in order to take the things that could possibly be needed.  Like Epipens, blood clotting agent and opiate pain killers for instance.  Technically speaking, I guess it would only be important to other riders I might come across because if I'm the one prone in the dirt, I'm not going to be able to patch myself up if I suffered a major injury, am I?  

I do have the Mile Post, of course.  Anyone that goes to Alaska without taking the Mile Post is probably not in the triple digits in the IQ world.   Some might say the Mile Post has too much information.  Not me.  The more the merrier I say.  I want to know EXACTLY how many miles it might be to the next gas station.  I want to know those gas stations that also might NOT be open any given day of the week.  And every single minor not-well-used dirt road that turns off the main road between any two points.  And I want to know the GPS coordinates of EVERYTHING.

In case you're still living in the 20th century and don't know about GPS.  GARMIN RULES!  I know there are other brands and some might even have a couple of neat features.  But, all things considered,  Garmin is it!  Some of you might say I'm biased in some way just because my daughter-in-law works at Garmin in Kansas City, or because when they had their IPO, I bought a lot of their stock.  I say "what conflict of interest"?  It's just a good product.  

I'm sure, no matter what I take, there will be things I find I need and things I brought that have no use.  That's ok because my brother-in-law retires next year and he wants to take a bike ride to Alaska.  So, by the time next year rolls around I can do it all over again, but with a lot more "savoir-faire".