I've repeatedly had discussions (bull sessions) with knowledgeable people about what someone should carry to avoid being stranded in Alaska by a 'broken' vehicle. The scope of these discussion spanned a range of vehicles from motorcycles to OTR 18-wheelers.
The Dalton Highway, formerly named the North Slope Haul Road, is easily the most extreme example. (Long-term Alaska residents still tend to use it's former name or simply refer to it as the 'Haul Road.")
Wikipedia has a notably understated description. It's a 414 mile long, mostly gravel road. (Only about 140 miles is actually paved, in seven short sections.)
Most of the significant daily traffic is large trucks carrying supplies and equipment to the North Slope oil fields. The trucks (aka 'tractors') and trailers are distinctive, specially designed and built to handle the rigors of that road. (Many have as many as 36 wheels, versus the 18 wheels on most semi-trucks in the lower 48 states.)
The Haul Road is best traveled in the winter, in spite of routine temperature of -50 degrees F or colder. In the summer, many sections are frequently impassible due to unavoidable environmental factors.
For the purposes of our discussion, it's worth noting Haul Road truckers carry enough tools and spare parts to pack the average minivan completely full ... side-to-side, floor-to-ceiling, from the driver's seat to the back doors.
While the Haul Road is an extreme example, there are many places in Alaska where you can find yourself stranded a hundred or more miles from the parts you need to get moving again. This includes the Parks Highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, which is probably the most heavily traveled road in Alaska outside major population centers. (Even so, it's entirely possible to find the only available parts are 150 or more miles away.)
One facetious individual suggested I could solve the 'spare parts' issue by simply towing a functional 'spare' motorhome behind mine. More reasonably people have suggested limiting myself to traveling in a group of two or more motorhomes. (Dragging a crowd around with you is counterproductive if your goal is to get away from people.)
