#1, congrats on making the choice, and best of luck in the follow through. Let us know how we can help.
#2, don't worry too much about gearing up before the move. There are enough firearms for sale in AK to supply several armies. Same goes boats, wheelers, packs and the like. There is always someone giving up the dream, and the vultures circle to get deals in the carnage. Just think, you can be one of those vultures!
458 had some good advice above. Once you are locked into housing, you have to keep feeding that monkey on your back, and that limits what you can do. Rent is not cheap, but you may be used to that. I have a friend that hauls a racecar trailer around and lives in that (in the L48). He lives super cheap and probably burns $20 bills to heat the trailer, but he probably has $100K wrapped up in that trailer and the truck to haul it around. Cool deal if you are single and have a spare 100K though...
Location wise, you pick your poison. Anchorage is a city and has all the advantages (jobs, the road system) and disadvantages (most everything else) of such. The bush is awesome in a lot of ways, but might also limit the things you can do somewhat. You will find lots of work in rural areas with your skillset.
