Travel ResMed recommendations

[PinehillJoe]

Hi, I do a lot of traveling and was considering buying one of the small travel units.  Can anyone recommend a ResMed unit?  Can I used the same supplies as my Resmed 10 or Airsense 11?

[sauerkraut]

PinehillJoe;
I travel with My AS 11 .. It came with a soft travel case ..
To My knowledge supplies for the AS 10 and AS 11 can 
not be used with the Resmed Air Mini ..

[PinehillJoe]

thanks, I have a 10 and 11, 11 is the newest. The 10 will turn into my travel unit

[DancesWithCats]

Car travel it goes with. Air travel it stays home and I do without. 

YMMV. 

Too much of a hassle and takes up too much space to bother with it.

My laughable excuse for insurance would not pay for a travel machine, and the travel machines seem to be pretty crummy for the price.

[PinehillJoe]

I admit on a two day trip I go without, and do notice the difference.  Many of my trips are a week or more, so CPAP is a must.

[dwedward]

I use the AirMini when I travel; when I'm at home I use an AirCurve 11. You may wonder why a bi-level at home, and an APAP on the road. I use the AirMini for two reasons: the first is because it's compact. I have a USB-C adapter to power it, so the ensemble is very comnpact. The hose, a mask, and the machine. The power I pull from my USB-C charger that is also used for my phone, earbuds, watch and tablet. I separate the machine from the hose and mask, and that makes it even more compact to fit into a gap somewhere in the suitcase. The larger machines don't offer that luxury.

The second reason I use the AirMini is because it's a good machine. As in all things in life, there are trade-offs. It's not a full-feature nightstand machine, but it works the same as the AS 10 or AS 11. People will say it's noisy, the humidair pucks don't give the moisture they need, and a host of other things. But the AirMini is a good, solid machine which I also used as a full-time machine for several months.

I travel a lot, and being able to fit multiple days business clothes, along with my "tech" into a small carry-on suitcase is important to me. Your own situation may be different, and you'll have to decide what's best for you.

[PinehillJoe]

thanks, thats the feed back I was looking for.  When you travel every cubic inch in your suitcase is valuable, I try to never check a bag.   Can you use P10 pillows with the Mini?  My home unit is a Resmed Airsense 11

[sauerkraut]

To My limited knowledge a cpap machine in its own carrying case
Doesn't count as a carry on bag for domestic air travel ..
You can take it with Your carry on !!

[PinehillJoe]

Good to know about the CPAP not counting toward carryon. I'm a million miler with United, I never thought to ask. Looking online, they don't count, you're correct.

I like the Airsense Mini, but the price is high. It dawned on me why its $1000. All other desktop machines are ~$1000 probably because Medicare and the other Insurance companies agreed on that price. If the suppliers sold the travel unit for less, people would buy it and not the desktop units for everyday use. Its a market driven price by our US Health Care Industry.

[SleepyDwarf123]

"Can you use P10 pillows with the Mini? "

With the AirMini, you have some choices in how you handle the masks.  ResMed makes "Airmini" compatible versions of the P10, N20, N30, F20, and F30 (I think I got that right!).  Those versions come with the specially designed tube, standard headgear and adapters to work with HumidX.  There is a special HumidX for the F20, and no HumidX for the F30.    If you want to use an different mask, then you can purchase an AirMini tube adapter (not from ResMed, but from most many DMEs and the big "A").  The adapter allows you to use a standard non-heated CPAP hose and connect any mask.  If you go this route, you can also try a muffler (Q-Lite) which may reduce the 'noise' a bit but YMMV.

When I first started using the AirMini, I tried the mufflers and thought that it reduced the noise a bit, but found that it really didn't.  I now use the AirMini version of the P10 along with the Airmini hose (which is a tad narrower than normal cpap hose) and am fully use to the 'noise'.  Yes, it's a bit louder than your unit at home, but I found that I got used to it very quickly.  

Over the past two years, the Airmini has been on multiple trips, including many trips lasting multiple weeks overseas. Like you, I try to minimize what I pack and travel carry-on only, and having the AirMini has made travel much less of a hassle than lugging the larger home unit around.  

As far as price, etc is concerned, I'd encourage you to shop around and also check and verify the return policies.  If you buy direct from ResMed, they allow you to return the unit within 30 days, even if used.  I belive that (at least) some other DME's may offer similar policies, but I would check and verify if the potential to return a used unit is important to you.  There are even a handful of DME's that will rent you a unit for a month and that's an option also if you want to kick the tires.


That's been my experience and I respect that others may have different opinions of the 'value' of the AirMini.