Cold weather camping and airsense 10

Went camping with my cub scouts. It got below freezing. At some point in the night I took the cpap off because my face was freezing, I was on battery power so had heat and humidity off.

We’re going camping again in January and am wondering what my options are? It’s only 1 night, Larger battery? Would a “travel cpap” pull less power?

Interesting. Full face mask? I wonder if something in the nasal family would work better. I've used the Dreamwear in chilly air but nothing really cold like you're talking about.

Jake00 wrote:Went camping with my cub scouts. It got below freezing. At some point in the night I took the cpap off because my face was freezing, I was on battery power so had heat and humidity off.

We’re going camping again in January and am wondering what my options are? It’s only 1 night, Larger battery? Would a “travel cpap” pull less power?

I know the Air Mini I use isn't compatible with a heated hose. I'd suggest a "hose cosy" sort of arrangement.

loggerhead12 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 11:02 pm

Full face mask? I wonder if something in the nasal family would work better.

If a nasal mask works, why isn't he using it at home already?

Changing masks to nasal isn't going to help at all. All it will do is give someone ice cube nose syndrome which isn't fun at all and I have had it when the ambient temps are in the mid 50s.

What is going to be needed is some way to heat up the air in the hose and when ambient temps are below 40 degrees...man that's going to be difficult because of the incoming air temp the machine is starting off with.

Ideally...a heated hose would be the best option but of course the heated hoses are a huge power draw on the battery so I don't know how viable that option might be.

Other options are hose cozy and/or routing the hose up next to the body and let the body temp try to help warm up the air in the hose.

If it were me I would think long and hard about getting a bigger battery and seeing if the heated hose would run all night with a larger capacity battery. Try it at home first to see if it would even last all night.

Jake00 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:39 pm

It’s only 1 night, Larger battery?

What type and AH battery are you using?

Also, please go to your profile and place the brand/model of machine and mask you are using in the signature block. It will then show on your posts and comments.

A important consideration is that the lower the temperatures the more battery drain you should expect. What is the typical range of nighttime low temps in January in the area you plan to camp? I’m a Scoutmaster and I would never consider using my CPAP on a Klondike, but I live in Colorado where on Klondikes temps often drop below 0. An interesting question is what would be the lowest temperature it’s advisable to use a CPAP while camping?

A few ideas you could try:
For your mask you could pull a big neck gator over your mask and face, I would cut a hole in the gator for the mask vent. Don’t be tempted to cover your face with your sleeping bag, the moisture from your exhaled breath will soak your bag.
I would also keep both CPAP and battery on the ground with a couple layers of closed cell foam pads under them.
As others have suggested I would also figure out a way to well insulate your hose.

If you’re camping in an area with good snow, and you have the time to build one sleep the best solution would be to sleep in a snow cave. Even when outside temperatures are well below 0 the temperature inside a properly built snow cave is a balmy 32’.

Maybe you should just consider camping in Hawaii.

rcobourn wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:11 am

Maybe you should just consider camping in Hawaii.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:30 am

If a nasal mask works, why isn't he using it at home already?

Cause that's what the DME had in stock that day.

You know how it goes.

if your face got cold you need more heat in the area you are sleeping in. the best way to use a cpap while camping is shut off the humidity and the power for the heating hose. use the standard hose slimline. use a dc converter to plug in to the back of your air sense 10. with this setup your cpap will draw less than one amp per hour thats 12 watts. I use lithium 100 amp battle born battery. with my setup I can go all week with a cpap. lithium is very expensive. you can buy a cheap 100 amp wet cell from an auto store for around 100 dollars. these batteries will work but don't use it to hard. another option you can go is buy one of those power stations out there with 300 watts of power. these will work with a cpap with no power and humidity, but if you need all the bells and whistles then you will need a 100 amp battery. just remember one amp is 12 watts a 100 amp battery can hold 1200 watts. if you want to use your cpap for 8hours you need 96 watts. I have my lithium battery wired to a victron smart shunt. I know how many watts I take out with my battery every time I use it.

Jake00 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:39 pm

Went camping with my cub scouts. It got below freezing. At some point in the night I took the cpap off because my face was freezing, I was on battery power so had heat and humidity off.

We’re going camping again in January and am wondering what my options are? It’s only 1 night, Larger battery? Would a “travel cpap” pull less power?

How would a travel cpap help? They don't generate any heat and remove the option for a heated hose?

Keep your CPAP and as much hose as possible in your sleeping bag. Try running the CPAP with the humidifier off but the heated hose on. Try this setup at home to see if the battery will last the night with just the heated hose.

Years ago I went on a camping trip where the temps were in the teens at night. Before I left for this 9 day trip I weened my self off of the humidifier and left the humidifier tank home. I would wake up a little frosty around the nose but sticking my bald head in the sleeping bag helped a lot when the wood stove would go out in the middle of the night. I think getting rid of the humidifier tank would help a lot. I have not used the humidifier sense 2008.

I've used my cpap down into the 30's quite a few times but not below freezing.

A bigger battery is a must if you want to run a number of days. I typically bring my 100ah deep cycle. Certainly not going to carry that anywhere other than a short distance from the vehicle. Keeping the battery warm will help it last longer. I have no solution for that other than trying to have your battery in the bag with you. You'd have to have multiple small batteries and a safe way to use them in the bag. Not sure that's a good idea.

At home I use a Resmed N10 nasal cushion mask but camping I use the Resmed P10 nasal pillow mask. I get my lowest ahi numbers with it and that allows me to turn down the pressure and achieve satisfactory results. Turning down the pressure conserves battery, along with not using the humidifier and heat. Check if your machine gets much louder without the humidifier tank. My Phillips machine gets much louder. I made that mistake once of leaving the tank at home. It was so much noisier that I struggled a lot to sleep the entire 9-10 day trip. I've read a muffler or filter inline with the hose can take care of the noise but have yet to try it.

When using cpap your body gets cooled much faster. It forces you to dress warmer and have more bag insulation. When using the machine I'd say plan on 10-15 degree difference from the air temp. If the air temp is 40f have enough insulation for 25-30f.

Dealing with condensation is the tricky part. Running the hose through the sleeping bag helps warm the air a bit. A hose cozy keeps you from sleeping against a cold hose. A bag liner works also, run the hose between the two bags. I usually use two sleeping bags.

Running just the hose through makes only a slight difference. Ideally you keep the machine warm also. I have a long bag with extra room and have slept with the machine in the bag but that pulls in moisture from your body and you get more condensation. I normally use two bags and put the machine and hose between the bags. that works a little better but not ideal. I haven't tried it yet but thinking the best way to go about it would be have the machine in the bag and connect a long air inlet hose routed through the bag with the end of the hose pulling fresh dry air from outside the bag. The long hose would give the air a bit of time to warm before it gets to the machine. I'm having visions right now of cold weather cpap sleeping bag. lol

Sleeping with your head in the bag is nice for keeping warm and keeping the mask from getting to much condensation. The problem with that is your exhaled breath can really make the bag get damp. I've resorted to covering my head to keep the mask warmer and reducing the condensation but have to have the mask pointing toward and opening to try and vent as much of the moisture as possible. Now I have visions of a mask with hose on the vent so you can cover you head and run the hose out of the bag.

I've been wishing for years someone would make some serious cpap camping equipment. I feel like the industry has been really lagging given the number of people on cpap. I certainly look forward to the days when we have better equipment for off grid, camping and trekking into the wilderness.

If I was going to be in freezing temps for only a couple of days I simply wouldn’t use the cpap