08-31-2018, 06:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-31-2018, 06:47 PM by AvalancheinAK.)
Ultralight portable cpap kit for camping, hiking, motorcycle, snowmachine, rafting
Thought I might share my last year or so of fine tuning my travel kit. I do a lot of winter camping by snowmachine and tent, as well as paddling and hiking trips in the summer. My dream station was a pain to lug around.
I’ve figured out a nice little package that just passed my ultimate test, a backpack sheep hunt for 10 days in the Alaska Range were our packs had to be as light as possible.
The core of my travel kit is a HDM Z1 CPAP. When traveling I normally run it off a 12v battery with the Z1 12V cord (dual battery plugs into my snowmachine when I’m riding in the winter). That has a 16” hose that links it to a Fisher and Paykel HC325 humidifier chamber. From there it’s a normal hose to a nasal mask, and a fleece wrap on the hose. A little clip on the hose so I can hang the midpoint from the tent or cabin is super handy.
To keep things light and simple, when camping I bring along two sets of toe warmers for each night, and stick them to the HC325. Humidification is decent that way. If backpacking, you can also add warm water from a campstove pot instead of cold to start out. Wrap the HC325 in an extra jacket at night to help it hold its heat.
The final piece is a lithium battery from Dakota Lithium. I can get four nights on one 10AH battery, over twice what my Goal Zero Sherpa 100 gives me for roughly the same battery capacity and it’s lighter. Including the battery, this gives me a total kit of under five pounds. That’s still a big addition when backpacking, but it’s the best ive come up with. Battery itself is two pounds, so the rest of the kit is three.
When I’m traveling and have AC power available, I add the “hot plate” for the HC325 to the kit to have powered humidification. That is a HC150 for the hot plate kit with chamber.
It’s worth noting that I messed with mufflers, filters, and silencers for the Z1, but when run through the HC325 chamber it might be more quiet than my dream station, so they aren’t needed. I almost messed that one up last winter on a snowmachine trip with my Dreamstation, I almost left the humidifier part at home to save space. It’s crazy loud without it, but luckily I left it in thecase and brought it along.
I think those are the highlights, I do a lot of electrical work so this wasn’t too hard to get all sorted out. Hope it’s useful!
I’ve figured out a nice little package that just passed my ultimate test, a backpack sheep hunt for 10 days in the Alaska Range were our packs had to be as light as possible.
The core of my travel kit is a HDM Z1 CPAP. When traveling I normally run it off a 12v battery with the Z1 12V cord (dual battery plugs into my snowmachine when I’m riding in the winter). That has a 16” hose that links it to a Fisher and Paykel HC325 humidifier chamber. From there it’s a normal hose to a nasal mask, and a fleece wrap on the hose. A little clip on the hose so I can hang the midpoint from the tent or cabin is super handy.
To keep things light and simple, when camping I bring along two sets of toe warmers for each night, and stick them to the HC325. Humidification is decent that way. If backpacking, you can also add warm water from a campstove pot instead of cold to start out. Wrap the HC325 in an extra jacket at night to help it hold its heat.
The final piece is a lithium battery from Dakota Lithium. I can get four nights on one 10AH battery, over twice what my Goal Zero Sherpa 100 gives me for roughly the same battery capacity and it’s lighter. Including the battery, this gives me a total kit of under five pounds. That’s still a big addition when backpacking, but it’s the best ive come up with. Battery itself is two pounds, so the rest of the kit is three.
When I’m traveling and have AC power available, I add the “hot plate” for the HC325 to the kit to have powered humidification. That is a HC150 for the hot plate kit with chamber.
It’s worth noting that I messed with mufflers, filters, and silencers for the Z1, but when run through the HC325 chamber it might be more quiet than my dream station, so they aren’t needed. I almost messed that one up last winter on a snowmachine trip with my Dreamstation, I almost left the humidifier part at home to save space. It’s crazy loud without it, but luckily I left it in thecase and brought it along.
I think those are the highlights, I do a lot of electrical work so this wasn’t too hard to get all sorted out. Hope it’s useful!
