Can You Backpack with Sleep Apnea?

If you have OSA or Obstructive Sleep Apnea, you know it kind of sucks…or blows depending on your perspective. Fortunately, we live in an age where medical science has really made it pretty easy to deal with when it comes to getting a good night sleep. Those of us that like to enjoy the great outdoors are faced with the challenge of suffering without our sleep therapy or we limit our destinations solely on whether or not there’s a power source for our CPAP device. If we car camp or RV our way into mother nature, the workarounds are fairly easy to manage.

What about those of us that like to strap to our backs the bare necessities for a 3-day trip and go way back into the wilderness? Well, we live with it the best way we know how, by suffering! Carrying your in-home CPAP would be the easy part, but finding an outlet in the backcountry is near impossible. And I don’t think they make a 10-mile-long extension cord and if they did, hiring enough sherpas to carry and lay out the cord, isn’t very cost effective. Luckily there’s a solution to this problem.

Travel compact CPAP devices do exist and are rather small and lightweight. Pair these with the wonder of the modern battery and you’ll get to enjoy that backcountry retreat you’ve been longing for. Batteries on the other had can be heavy and the good one’s aren’t cheap. Make a battery specially for a medical device and now we’re talking out of this world cost. Sadly, these medical grade batteries run $300 to $400 and they only give you a single night of therapy.

Several years ago, I was very excited when I discovered the possibility of owning a travel CPAP for my backpacking excursions. When I learned about the overly price ineffective medical grade batteries, I realized it just wasn’t a possibility. Suffering horribly in the backcountry was going to be my lot in life. Then I found the brilliant Scott Carrol DIY battery hack on YouTube.

He discovered a way to use more cost effective and efficient hobby LiPo batteries that could give you several nights sleep on the trail in a single charge. To make this work though, you needed to have a little bit of electrical soldering know-how and a willingness to build this special Backpacking CPAP kit. You’re really going to want this though because all said, I’m probably about $1,000 into building the best sleep kit I’ve ever had on the trail. Do I like the extra 3.5 to 6 lbs. I’m carrying on the trail? Not really, but it’s totally worth the weight.

Save those pennies Apneites and get yourself back in the backwoods with the best sleep you’ll ever have while mother nature lulls you off to wonderland.

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#backpackingcpap #sleepgood #sleepapnea #campingsleepapnea

[wendingourway]

Fantastic that you were able to find a solution! Excellent! Bruce and Otis

[GruntProof]

Outstanding man. Something probably many need to hear but no one talks about

[whitneymacdonald]

Thank you so much for this. I've been carrying a very heavy battery that lasts maybe two days. This sounds more complicated but worth the hassle I hope.

[libmananchannel]

Hello "Coleman Outdoors"! Thank you for showing us such a wonderful video! I feel so happy! I'm looking forward to your next work! Have a nice day!

[anitavaughn]

Is their a way the battery can be hooked up to a small solar panel that could sit on the top of pac?

[geniesejamison]

Deeply thank you for this information.

[jeffchandler]

Great video! And fantastic news for me. Especially inspiring considering that your hikes are areas that I’ve been to, (as a teenager oblivious to the ravages of aging), and want to visit again. Challenging for me is that my sleep apnea is not due to airway positioning or weight etc, but a neurological condition that I somehow acquired along the way. Yeah without CPAP the reptile screams loud every time I stop breathing and so basically no sleep. Appreciate your simple approach and solutions. Got a little hung up on the connector part as I have PTSD from not the right connector issues. But gonna give it a try. Thanks!

[Valorius]

Saw randall recommended your channel, so here I am. Subscribed!

[robertuffman]

great content for me. ty. i take my stripped down dream station with my Jackery 160. so probably 6 to 8 pounds i'm guessing. but the most i've done is 3 days so far. the only issue i have is the Jackery shuts off after 5 hrs of run time.

[grease]

I had to tackle this problem for my travel trailer during dry camping. It would be maybe 2 days running on the deep cycle tongue batteries before I had them exhausted. Got solar panels on the roof and Lithium 200 Ah batteries. Those CPAP machines are greedy in terms of energy requirements. Can now stay out 7-10 days without plugging in for recharge. Depends on my sun exposure.

[MiddleAgedBob]

The nice thing about camping with a CPAP is that you can completely close yourself in your sleeping bag and still breathe fresh air.

[gangstafish]

You have to balance charge the battery. That's why there is balance plug hanging from the battery.

[GideonSmit]

I'm very happy to discover your channel. I hope you don't mind if I take a slight side trail here. I am getting ready to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2024. I've been hiking with a Transcend 2 travel CPAP for 10 years. I'm hoping to learn as much as possible about maxing out my nights between charges and save money on hotels/hostels.
Up to now I've only spent 2 nights at a time off grid, then I need to come in and charge the batteries. Unfortunately, this machine runs off around 19V DC so if you have a 12V power source you need a DC 12 to DC 19V converter, which sucks up some of the power. I've just paid an eye-watering amount to replace the old machine with the Transcend Micro CPAP. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to pay for the proprietary batteries, weighing 500g (1.1 Lbs) I have experimented with my machine to stretch the battery life over as many nights as possible. Here's what I've tried/learnt so far:
1. Set the machine to CPAP (fixed pressure) instead of APAP, if possible, or if you can't, set the max pressure as low as possible (ask your sleep specialist).
2. Switch off ALL comfort settings, including ramp, Z-breathe / EZEX depending on the machine - best to have the blower running at a constant speed rather than slowing down and speeding up with every in/exhale.
3. Try and keep the battery from getting too cold (day and night) - so good insulation in the pack and on the ground.
4. This last point is an extension of the first point. It's not medical advice, work with your CPAP provider. I did that, and gradually reduced the pressure a bit more, making sure I don't suffer apnoea during the night.
This is helpful for 3 reasons:
a. The lower the pressure, the longer the battery life.
b. The lower the pressure, the easier it is to exhale against the incoming air, when the Z-Breathe/EZEX is switched off.
c. I found that with an optimal but low as possible constant airway pressure, I was having a better sleep than with the higher pressure, felt more rested in the morning, and because the machine wasn't constantly slowing down and speeding up, anybody else nearby was less bothered by the noise of the machine.

[gangstafish]

Lipo Batteries are not cheap. And you need a good charger that balance charges.

[TeslaRules]

Not a backpacker but 1) I do travel for work, and 2) like to have a back up for home. For these reasons I use a Laptop/Phone powerbank that can also power the z2. This is an all in one back up power approach. These are the Baseus 65W 20000 and 30000 mah powerbanks. The 20000 unit is approved for airline travel. Add in a 5ft PD USB Type C Male Input to DC 5.5 x 2.1mm Male Power Charging Cable up to 100W to power the z2 from the battery. The larger 30, 000mah unit is used for power outages at home. Oh - for the charger or power supply I use the Anker GaNPrime 65W, 3-Port Fast Compact Foldable Wall Charger.

[Mustela_Furo]

I have a Resmed Air Mini that I love for travel and am hoping to take it out backpacking. On a river trip I took the battery that “goes” with it (the $300 one) plus a solar charger. It worked great but the solar charger is heavy! Do you think the setup you show here would work for the air mini?

[rafal]

I hooked up my t old ranscend cpap to my ryobi battery..Since I already had some laying around. . Not as light weight as your solution but more robust. Get 2 nights from my 5Ah at 8 mmH2o pressure. The original Barrery had the same voltage.

[brianmoore]

Thanks for the vid! I also have the Z2 Auto travel unit. Curious what your pressure, ramp times, and z breath settings are that allow you to get 5 nights sleep with that battery solution. Thanks for sharing!

[SW-Video]

What about using the small easy to charge power packs that are readily available?

[radinz]

Does anyone know What about resmed airmini to compare with ?