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I have sleep apnea and have been using CPAP for several years now. I am just curious if any other hangers might be in the same boat as me? I don't sleep well without my CPAP and as far as I know there's not a battery powered unit available. If there's anybody else that might have some ideas to help make hanging easier for people with sleep apnea I'd love to hear from you. I love hanging and being outdoors but I'm thinking I may be limited due to my problem.
Curious as well. My father wants to get back into the wild but needs his cpap!
There have been several posts in the past concerning CPAP usage while camping, one of them mentioned a battery supply.
STinGa
Just about any CPAP can run on battery. The newer units are lighter and the battery too. Figure what you are willing to carry how many nights you need and how much you want to spend. Most of my trips run 1-3 nights and this is what work well for me.
I get 2 to 3 nights out of the multi- night battery
http://www.cpap.com/productpage/tran...somnetics.html
S
I wear a CPAP but I can get by without one for trips. I find that when in a hammock my upper body and head are slightly elevated enough to where I can sleep without my airway getting too obstructed. I also find sleeping towards my side helps as well. If you can't get by without one, as mentioned someone here posted about a battery operated model and even posted a pic of how he used it whike hanging IIRC.
There are battery powered units available. They are kind of expensive, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Man
The best thing I have been able to do is carry a long extension cord on scout campouts if we are camping at a site near electrical outlets. On backpacking treks, I am out of luck. I think the lowest battery unit I priced was 500.00, a bit out of my price range. That is a battery that holds about 7 hours worth of charge.
I had a friend tell me about an article he read on a new CPAP alternative that was just approved by the FDA last year. The website here gives you all the information you need.
I haven't gotten it myself but I am seriously considering it...
Thanks for the replies. Sidewinder, Thanks for the link. I use a resmed brand with the warmed humidifier at home and I love it. But after looking at their website, I found they don't sell one that runs on batteries other than one with a converter that you plug into your vehicle's 12 Volt system. I hate to spend 800 bucks+ just to be able to camp. lol. Have you had yours long? I wonder if insurance will cover the one you linked?
Big Dog, I was on one of the sleep apnea websites earlier today and they say that works for some and not for others. The jury is still out on it.
Thanks again for the replies guys!!!
For less than $800 you could get a fixture you put in your mouth that holds your jaw forward, opening your airway and it just fits in your pocket.
I hear you. It is a lot of money, but your health is worth it. I choose this model because it is the smallest and lightest, I could find. About the size of a Nalgene bottle. I do go without as well. On my longer trips (days>3) I will alternate days using and going without. I might spring for an extra battery but for now most trips I do are within the range of the battery I have. As for insurance, it really depends on what you have and what it covers. I was out of pocket for mine. I've had mine for about 6 months. It is not humidified, but they do offer a type of humidification that I have not yet tried. It's an add on but does not use any additional water other then using your heated breath to moisten the air as you inhale. The technology is called Heat moisture exchange humidification (HME).Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Man
https://www.cpap-supply.com/ProductD...uctCode=303005
It seems a bit complicated and maybe more then I want to deal with. I don't find I miss the humidification when I'm out in the woods. I will try to get some pictures of my set up next time I use it.
I will say that I do sleep better and for longer periods with the CPAP in my hammock. Without it, I find that I wake up every 2 hours and have to water the trees :D I usually get a solid 6 hours of hammock sleep with the CPAP. It is pricey but my sleep/health is worth it and I enjoy my hammock much better. Compared to how much I spend on my other gear, it's not out of line.
S
I have heard the same thing and i'm considering going in to find out if i'm one of the lucky ones. The pressure setting on my cpap machine isn't that high so i'm hoping that puts me in the right category.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Man
Thanks for the info friend, I appreciate it very much. My resmed brand is the S8 compact. It has the humidifier. I have used it for several years and I really love it. Is the one you use for trips the same one you use regularly at home, or did you get it just for trips? I use the nasal mask but I am thinking of trying the nasal pillows.
I was hoping for a battery powered one to use just for hanging and for when the power goes out. That one is a little pricey, not so much for the unit but for the extended battery. lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sidewinder
Good luck with it. Maybe it will work for you, I hope so. If you get it let me know what you think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDogDVJ
I use a Respironics Remstar AutoCPAP as my daily user. I use the Transcend only for my trips. I too use nasal pillows, mostly because they weigh less. I use short hosing too. Funny, I weigh everything I have to the gram but have not weighed my CPAP system. :edit: Weight of my system as carried is just under 2.5 lbs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Man
Good luck in whatever you choose. It took me a number of years to purchase a dedicated sleep system for my trips. It really didn't occur to me until this past year when I ran across the Transcend model. I think it is revolutionary to have a CPAP system that can be used in the backcountry that you wouldn't mind carrying for miles, although it has moved me from a UL camper to a Lightweight one ;)
S
This is a non mechanical/electrical solution to apnea ...
http://www.sleepbetterva.com/
I will be Scootering/Camping/Hammocking (Scammocking:lol: ) across the country this summer. I have the ResMed s8 elite CPAP.
I received this yesterday - CPAP Battery Kit:
http://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/cpa...-dc-cable.html
I charged it (wall AC) and tested it out last night.
For charging the battery while traveling, I also bought the power inverter:
http://www.cpap.com/productpage/aims...-inverter.html
If you order from them, after you put everything in your cart, try to leave without finishing. They offered me free 2-day shipping:thumbup:
After spending another almost sleepless night last Friday night in the hammock, and not having $800+/- to spend on a nice portable system, I'd really like to hear more about the Provident system. Has anyone actually gotten an Rx for these and tried them out? I sure would like to hear more about them.
Rookie 1st time poster here but I've been reading the forums for awhile now
I have to use CPAP, which ties me to some electrical source and limits my ability to camp out in comfort. I figured maybe hammock camping might be the way to go since I could raise my head and shoulders up, helping to keep my airway open. That was before I knew what banana meant and now uncomfortable s cheap net hammock, improperly set up, without a good pad...etc (sigh)- lets say that experience motivated me to learn about hammocking the right way by reading this forum. It was not a good night but it was a good trip and let me be outdoors with my son.
After beginning my formal hammock education thanks to this forum and youtube I had better information. I built a DIY gathered end hammock and made some whoopie slings to go on it. That was fun and productive and it appealed to the mizer in me. I just had to sleep in it but did not want to repeat the whole struggling to breath without CPAP experience.
So, I set it up in the basement between two hefty support posts and put my CPAP on a 5 gallon bucket next to the hammock. I was able to sleep on the bias, I used a simple quilt to stay warm, and the CPAP never got hung up or interfered with by the hammock. It was a very positive experience and it assured me that I could at least use non-primitive campsites equipped with electric outlets and still be out in nature a bit.
My CPAP has a 12 volt adapter connector, so I have considered buying the cord and trying it out with a marine deep cycle battery. I am so smart to be so frugal....uh wait a minute- they are really heavy. Back to the drawing board.
I can't afford a dedicated camping CPAP or a battery just for that purpose so I am unfortunately limited right now.
This quandary has helped motivate me to double down on my determination to lose weight- something which may eventually lead to being able to break my dependence on that infernal machine.
Thanks everybody for sharing your information and expertise- not just in this thread but overall in the forum and on YT. 21 pounds down from my starting weight so far and wondering what took me so long to start feeling better by shedding the weight.
-Sarge
The CPAP/BiPAP battery I am familiar with is sold by a company called Philips Respironics.
http://www.respironics.com/
I looked into this a while back for one of the parents in my cub scout den. At least here in FL you can easily get away without the humidification except maybe in the middle of winter. This is normally the only component that must have 120v wall current. The main body of about every CPAP is just a small DC air pump. Most every one will either run on 12 volts or sell a reasonably priced cigarette lighter adapter style power supply.
A unit that will run on straight 12 volts is pretty easy to deal with. Ebay and other sources sell a huge variety of sealed lead acid, NiMH, or even lithium battery packs. With a little ingenuity you can easily adapt your unit to run on one of these. The only concern will be the battery capacity you'll need for your intended trip. One that requires a power supply (much like a laptop) will weigh a bit more and probably be somewhat less efficient.
I pretty much figured out that with my friend's unit he could easily run it for a night off my car jump-starter (an 18Ah sealed lead acid battery). Something like this would be fine for car camping but I don't think a really suitable solution exists for backpacking.
Interesting reading this post as I also use a cpap machine. I've only hung three nights so far and all them w/out my machine. I don't have an extension cord that will reach 150yds:rolleyes:.! I'm trying my new gear out in the woods behind my house.
I'm trying to mostly sleep on my side, knowing that I'll continue to breath more normally that way than on my back. (On my back is a TRAIN WRECK):eek:
I'm gonna look at the battery option and maybe figure something out w/out having to spend a few hundred $$!
I tried a cheap mouthpeice that holds the lower jaw forward.........as long as it was in, it works, but I usually woke up with it sticking in my shoulder blade or else where!! LOL A custom-fit mouthpiece would probably stay in better but I'm not ready to spend a few hundred on one of those!
Right now I'm thinking that I'll just hang one night at a time. That way I won't loose too much sleep at a time! I'm liking it out there too much to let the apnea stop me!
I also sleep with a cpap machine and since beginning to sleep better, I really notice myself waking a lot in a hammock. So I spent a considerable amount of money on the new Chrysalis hammock that could get me so flat that I could actually sleep on my side, and the sides were so low I didn't have to keep my arm above and under my head all night, like in a Bridge Hammock.
Trying out this hammock that a friend had, I thought this would be the answer to sleeping better in the woods, but when I got it and went to the woods and tried to sleep all night in it, it was actually worse, and I couldn't put my arm in front of me because the sides were so tight it hurt my arm. I considered putting my Big Agnus in it so I could maybe get my body up in a position that would allow my arm to not hurt and fall asleep, but finally sold the Chrysalis and am going back to the BB.
I am looking into the insert and the battery thing, but will probably just tough it out the way it is for me. The Black bird is a great hammock, and if I can find a way to get my head up higher and still not slide down too far into the footbox, I should be able to sleep.
We will see.
Another ideal i just thought of is to make the ridge line shorter on my BB so I would be more in a banana shape that would keep me sort of sitting up. I think I will put my adjustable whoopie ridge line on the hammock and see if that helps.
Thanks everyone for this thread. Its been a big help.
I wear one while at home but out in the woods the missus can't hear me snore. I just sleep a bit longer in the woods but I may be a marginal case.
I use a CPAP at home but in the woods Afrin + Tylenol PM work pretty good.
Several options:
http://www.cpapbatterystore.com/
Lithium Ion @ $329 on up, 3lbs 15-20 hours 150Wh max 8A
http://www.cpapbatterystore.com/C-150_details.html
Deep Cycle AGM 12v 22Ah @ $55, 14lbs , unknown runtime, no discharge protection, overcharge protection must be built into separate charging unit
http://www.batteryspec.com/cgi-bin/c...product=217G76
Not sure about the 9800 mAh packs on ebay yet, still researching
Another battery option for some machines. $250
http://www.cpaptravelbatterypack.com/products.html
Various 12v 8Ah batteries $25-$60
http://www.atbatt.com/sealed-lead-ac.../m/12v-8ah.asp
Small, light, portable CPAP w/ optional battery
http://www.cpap.com/cpap-machine/evo...P-Machine.html
CPAP alternative. i have no experience with this product.
https://puresleep.com/s30/homepage.php