C-PAP for back country hunt

[JoeB]

I'm looking for options for CPAP for my September elk hunt this fall. There will be no electric, so will have to be battery operated or one of the mouth insert types. Any suggestions that you have seen work will be greatly appreciated.

 

[SIR_34:16]

Pretty good discussion here:

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/cpap-anything-new-for-backpacking-camping.259798/

I went with a Breas Z2 auto and the Renogy 7200 mah battery. Used it at 11,000 feet and after the 4th night the battery still showed 50%. Could have gone longer but I switched batteries when we resupplied to make sure. It adds some weight to the pack, but I thought it was 110% worth it to get a good night's sleep.

 

[JoeB]

Pretty good discussion here:

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/cpap-anything-new-for-backpacking-camping.259798/

I went with a Breas Z2 auto and the Renogy 7200 mah battery. Used it at 11,000 feet and after the 4th night the battery still showed 50%. Could have gone longer but I switched batteries when we resupplied to make sure. It adds some weight to the pack, but I thought it was 110% worth it to get a good night's sleep.

Thanks for the info!! I’ll check it out

 

[Mike Islander]

Pretty good discussion here:

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/cpap-anything-new-for-backpacking-camping.259798/

I went with a Breas Z2 auto and the Renogy 7200 mah battery. Used it at 11,000 feet and after the 4th night the battery still showed 50%. Could have gone longer but I switched batteries when we resupplied to make sure. It adds some weight to the pack, but I thought it was 110% worth it to get a good night's sleep.

Wow! My brother in law flattened my 650 CCA car battery after about 8 hours. I guess his CPAP is a watt-hog?

 

[ssgjpd]

I have a resmed mini and used the Nomad 75. It will last two days before needing a charge. I can connect it to a solar panel and get enough to last another 4-5 hours a night if there is ample daylight. I might look for a different portable battery pack.

I got this cable off of ebay to connect the cpap to the portable battery pack.

USB-C Adapter Power Supply Cable for ResMed AirMini/AirSense 11 | eBay

This is the only power cable that should be used with your AirMini / AirSense 11 machine. Supports both AirMini and AirSense 11. Output Connector: AirMini or AirSense 11. When taking off the mask, AirMini (with SmartStop ON) requires more power to spin up the motor for max air output.

www.ebay.com

 

[tim tarras]

I have a resmed mini and used the Nomad 75. It will last two days before needing a charge. I can connect it to a solar panel and get enough to last another 4-5 hours a night if there is ample daylight. I might look for a different portable battery pack.

I got this cable off of ebay to connect the cpap to the portable battery pack.

USB-C Adapter Power Supply Cable for ResMed AirMini/AirSense 11 | eBay

This is the only power cable that should be used with your AirMini / AirSense 11 machine. Supports both AirMini and AirSense 11. Output Connector: AirMini or AirSense 11. When taking off the mask, AirMini (with SmartStop ON) requires more power to spin up the motor for max air output.

www.ebay.com

They have the same one on Amazon for way less $$$$.

Wow! My brother in law flattened my 650 CCA car battery after about 8 hours. I guess his CPAP is a watt-hog?

If he was using his home one and had the heat on to heat the water chamber and hose it uses a lot of power. Some models have an adapter so you don't have to use the water chamber or just run it with no water and turn the heat off to the chamber and hose.

The portable one I have has none of these features and will easily last 3-4 days, depending of temperature in camp.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Ever thought about a MAD, it’s a small plastic mouth guard that keeps your lower jaw from falling back, used for milder sleep apnea.

 

[11boo]

I don’t use a cpap but, if you can use 12v or usb power….
For a base camp I set up a simple solar/deep cycle battery thing.
We run lighting and charge all our stuff on this. Never killed a battery and the place is well lit at night. I put it all together for 250$.
120w folding panel.

 

[Titan]

Most CPAP are 12v with a inverter on the plug for 110v. You should be able to get a 12v cord for your specific unit to avoid any extra loss.

Cheapest $ per watt hour I have come across is the Jupitek s1200. $300 for 1250watt hours (might get a solar panel for free also when purchasing). Depending on your machine and the level you need to run (and if you want humidifier on), you could get up to 4-5 days on a single charge.

 

[Langehans]

Have you considered an oral appliance? They work for a lot of people with SA.

 

[Mike Islander]

So, is the key to isolated camping a special CPAP that uses far less power than one that might generally be used in the home? Cause those home units burn 65 watts or more.

 

[SIR_34:16]

Turn off all unnecessary functions (humidifier, Bluetooth/WiFi) and get a machine that uses 12v and doesn't convert from 12v to something higher. Capacity is lost when converting power.

 

[Titan]

So, is the key to isolated camping a special CPAP that uses far less power than one that might generally be used in the home? Cause those home units burn 65 watts or more.

The wattage varies during use. So the average should be lower. Pretty much any CPAP works fine.

The energy use will be higher with higher pressures, humidifier, and converting 12v to 120v. That same CPAP might only use 25-30w/hr.

 

[Tcmo-33]

I was active on the thread in the second post of this one. I slept on the renogy with a transcend cpap for 2 nights at elevation before we came down and moved spots. I plugged it in on the 2 hour drive to the next spot and got another 4 nights out of it. Every use case is different. Are you packing camp on your back? Are you coming to the truck every night? I hope you find a good option for you. Keep us posted


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Islander]

The wattage varies during use. So the average should be lower. Pretty much any CPAP works fine.

The energy use will be higher with higher pressures, humidifier, and converting 12v to 120v. That same CPAP might only use 25-30w/hr.

Car inverter is 80-90% efficient. But his CPAP runs 65 mA in normal use. It's a home variety. Not sure if he can turn off humidity, heater, etc. I'll get him to send me the model number to see what we can do to make it work. Otherwise I'll probably get him a "camping" model for his next birthday.

 

[Titan]

You are losing the conversion twice through an inverter also. 12v machine to 110 inverter on the plug. Then back to 12v with the Car battery inverter.

See if the unit is 12v and if the manufacturer makes a 12v direct plug. Usually $34-50.

 

[SIR_34:16]

Like @Titan said, the most efficient machine to run on a battery is one that uses an input of 12V. All CPAP machines use DC, but not all are 12V. Look at the box on the power cord that came with the machine and see what the output is. Here is one from a Resmed airsense 10.

The box converts 110V AC to 24V DC. You can also buy a DC cord for the machine that plugs into a 12V cigarette lighter (see below).


This will convert 12V DC to 24V DC but you will still loose efficiency because of the conversion.

A machine that uses 12V DC input will maximize battery life.

 

[JoeB]

Ever thought about a MAD, it’s a small plastic mouth guard that keeps your lower jaw from falling back, used for milder sleep apnea.

Have you used one? If so did it work good enough to get some sleep in the back country?

 

[Hnthrdr]

Have you used one? If so did it work good enough to get some sleep in the back country?

I haven’t tried it in the backcountry, but I wear them all other times, the wife is a dentist and really big on airway and sleep stuff so I was fitted for one pretty quickly into our relationship haha