multiday backpack with no access to electricity?

[theoconbrio]

Hi, new member. What a great resource!

I did lots of searches to make sure I wasn't going over well-trod ground. I did read a bunch of threads on camping with the CPAP, but my question is a bit more specific. My girlfriend and I want to do a week-long backpack trip in Iceland where we likely won't have any access to electricity. I would be willing to give up my CPAP for a week, but I snore so loudly that it would ruin the trip for everyone else--guaranteed.

I've looked into the Transcend mini-CPAP with multiday battery and solar panels, but I've seen wildly different experiences with charging quality and battery life. I normally use a setting of 12 cm, but I could bring it down to 10 or even 9 to reduce battery usage, and of course I would forgo the humidifier.

Does anyone have direct experience with multiday excursions where you had no access to electricity at all, and how it worked for you? Thanks for any advice/data points/anecdotes!

[trish6hundred]

Hi theoconbrio,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for answers to your questions and much success to you with your CPAP therapy.

[nsherry61]

I would recommend looking into an oral appliance specifically designed to address snoring AND sleep apnea, also known as a Mandibular Re-positioning Device (MRD). Many dentists can custom-make them. You can also get heat moldable ones off of the internet, many of which apparently work reasonable well and cost in the range of $100 or so. Resmed has a web page talking about one here.

I bought one off the internet that got a couple good reviews from bloggers and it seems to work well, although, I haven't tried it with any witnesses around to verify that it is working as advertised to stop my snoring and/or apnea.

Good luck.

[Sleeprider]

The PRS1 machines are 12 volt and can be powered up to 3-days on a 32000 mAh PowerAdd Pilot Pro Lithium battery charger (can be found on Amazon). It includes connectors that will connect to your blower unit without adapters, and will power it from the 12-Volt option. Longer trips may require multiple batteries or a means to recharge. This battery pack is intended for recharging laptop computers and other electronic accessories, but has been proven in powering CPAP for many users and has more capacity than any of the dedicated CPAP batteries. This unit is 7.3 x 4.8 x 1.1 inches ; 1.8 pounds.

I use this with a laptop charger adapter to recharge the battery while riding on the motorcycle. Be aware that quality on these batteries has been variable and they are either great or immediately crap-out. They are easily returned for exchange through Amazon. So try it immediately to be sure it works correctly.

The key for any power bank is that it have safety features to prevent overheating, and must be rated to supply the 12V 4.5 Amp output that this battery does. Larger batteries I have seen (up to 50,000 mAh) sometimes have only 2.5 Amp output, which will not power the CPAP.

Look for a thread on another forum by googling "Backpacking-Hiking-and-Camping--the-PowerAdd-Pilot-Pro"

Good luck!

[justMongo]

The 32000 mAh PowerAdd Pilot Pro Lithium battery exceeds the 100 Watt-Hr limit for air transport.
You may not be permitted to bring it onto an aircraft.

[PoolQ]

One other issue you may run into is that if you expect to use solar charging, this of course needs to be done during day light hours when you will most likely will be hiking and then if there are clouds, well you know about clouds and solar.

[Sleeprider]

Good point JM. Flying can be an issue, although many people will carry-on as a normal laptop power bank, it could be stopped.

Any charging option should be closely matched to the stock DC recharger, which is 15-24 volt 2-amp. Higher charging rates can be dangerous. Excess charging rates can cause fires.

[nsherry61]

Geez, I hate to be a party pooper, but, in spite of how wonderful it sounds (and is promoted by some companies), solar panels and backpacking rarely work, even for maintaining cell phones. There just isn't enough open sky and good weather for enough of every day (except in deserts) to do this, even for a phone. It is completely unrealistic to think solar would provide enough energy, while backpacking, to keep an xpap operating.

I would recommend either bagging the xpap idea all together or just carrying enough batteries. Over three or four days, enough Lithium ion batteries will weigh less than the amount of solar panel needed to generate the same amount of energy.

Compare the xpap mass, with the few grams of simple moldable plastic oral appliance (which a minority of people prefer to XPAPs even for apnea) and you've got a very light, very simple, very portable and effective solution.

When I was looking into this, I found <commercial link to oral appliance web site removed> quite informative.

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[archangle]

I would recommend looking into an oral appliance specifically designed to address snoring AND sleep apnea, also known as a Mandibular Re-positioning Device (MRD). Many dentists can custom-make them. You can also get heat moldable ones off of the internet, many of which apparently work reasonable well and cost in the range of $100 or so. Resmed has a web page talking about one here.

I bought one off the internet that got a couple good reviews from bloggers and it seems to work well, although, I haven't tried it with any witnesses around to verify that it is working as advertised to stop my snoring and/or apnea.

Good luck.

While they work for some, oral devices for apnea have a really poor success rate. Usually thousands of dollars from dentists. Can also cause jaw problems.

Be really careful about backup power solutions. What works well in your mind often won't work in the field. Adequate power for several days tends to be heavy or expensive, and often doesn't run as long as you think it will from looking at the specs.

Solar power for CPAP is usually a fantasy for backpacking. You need to set up your solar panels to charge all day long, they need to be aligned to the sun. You need many hours of exposure. You get a limited number of "sun hours" per day. You also need fairly large panels, several square feet at least. If you're moving from one site to another during daylight hours, you can't use them while traveling. Mounting them on the backpack is probably not going to collect enough energy. Also, what if it's cloudy?