Strapparatus Headgear ?

I am wondering how the members who tried out this headgear feel or felt about it?

I trialed it and found that although the headgear was comfortable to sleep in, I just have not been able to get the perfect fit of my mask to make it work without many leaks.. Anyone else have an opinion on this?

I also noted that the maker of this heagear has pretty much disappeared from site. He and I worked hard on finding the right combo for my head with different sizes of this and that and I came to the conclussion that this headgear is very hard to fit with too many measurements needed from the user and too many variables for us regular folks to get it right.

Would love to hear from anyone else who has been or still is trialing this headgear.

I never understood the need for this headgear. All masks come with headgear designed specifically for the mask. There is big money to be made in good masks, so the suppliers would want to design a good headgear to go along with their masks. ?????

Take the Hybrid mask for instance. The first headgear was panned by users so the supplier quickly replaced it with a better headgear.

I participated in this trial, too. As I told the inventor, I could not keep the back strap from sliding down to the lowest point (the back of my neck) and dragging the top strap with it, which mad an uncortable downward tug on the forehead piece. There are many ways to adust the various straps, but nothing to keep that one back strap from slipping down. There is tubing that runs behind the ears and hits me in a place tht hurt and left a ridge after wearing for only 20 minutes. I, too, tried to contact the inventor, and have gotten no response. I did not want to publicly comment on it until I had a chance to allow him to make suggestions. The way it is now, I could not use it.

Anybody else?


Bev

I also trialed the Strapparatus Headgear. It's only been a couple of weeks, so I can't say anything about durability, but....

Pros
1. Less confining feeling that the "normal" headgear - only one band at the back of the head. Overall, more comfortable to me because of this
2. I didn't get the heat/sweat buildup under the straps like I do with neoprene
3. I was able to get it to seal my mask better than the older headgear I have - did not test it against a new set, though.

Cons
1. the velcro used to tighten the mask is very stiff and the ends need to be tapered. I would work better with a softer brand or with sewn in padding to reduce skin irritation where it contacts the the cheeks.
2. measuring for the correct fit definitely needs a picture guide to get it right - I screwed mine up too and am waiting on a longer piece.

Overall, It has potential to be a good headgear system. It's definitely not a one size fits all piece of equipment, and I could see where certain face types (round, like mine) could have a comfort issue. If the new piece fixes my one issue with the headgear, I will use it over the headgear that came with my mask

Like all other xPAP equipment, some will love it, some will hate it.

EDIT: My issue with the product is the same a Bev's - the tube hitting in an uncomfortable place at the top of the ear. Didn't have the slippage problem, though.

I asked about the headgear, but am still waiting for a response from the manufacturer:

I received the Strapparatatus headgear for use with a ResMed Ultra Mirage Full Face Mask. I have some questions so I can finish reviewing this mask.

1) The mask came with no attachments so I marked my UMFF and took off the four fasteners and put them on the Strapparatus headgear and everything seemed to go together, but this caused twists in the headgear and the fit was very uncomfortable compared to the ResMed standard headgear. I couldn't get it to lay flat as there is no swiveling capability to the headgear.
2) The mask leaked really bad and I couldn't get the headgear adjusted to stop the leaks. This mask is essentially leak free every night with the ResMed standard Headgear. The design concept seems to be to keep constant pressure on all four mask attachments. This seems to be a different design psychology than the UMFF Mask uses with more pressure on the lower attachments and less on the forehead support.
3) I was unable to sleep in the mask even a single night using this headgear, but I am willing to keep trying if anyone has any suggestions how to make it work properly with this mask.
4) I sincerely doubt that any samples sent to DME's were evaluated or used, but hope you got some feedback from them.
5) I received a request from a company wanting a review of the trial, but have not responded to that since all I could say would be that I have not been able to use the sample properly at this time. After reading the terms of the review, I am not sure they really want an unbiased review. Let me know if I am missing something, as I had high hopes, but no joy so far.

For those that fared better, tell me how, as I would like to get a few nights of testing on this headgear.

I'm not too sure what happened to this guy either! He and I were emailing quite a bit at first since I could not get it to fit with the gear he sent after I sent him my measurements. I originally told him I would probably need a small and according to the measurements he sent me a large back strap and long side straps and that was a no go. So he sent me pretty much one of every size he had available and so far it is still a no go. He has not responded back to me since then. I am thinking and it is only me here, that he got so frustrated with his sizing by measurements not working out as he had hoped. I also told him that this way of fitting is not going to work for the regular people. We as users need to be able to do little tweaks here and there with our headgear and that is not what this headgear does.

For your information. You CAN pull those little pliable loops looser or in your case smaller by knotting it up. He did send me new side straps that were much shorter than the original and has little tiny loops instead of the bigger ones. I was still leaking with those and since it was/is so hard to do any adjustments on your own, I have put it aside for now.

From conversing with him, I know he had very high hopes for this gear. I do think part of the problem is the fact that HE is not a user of this equipment. He just is an RT.I do wonder if he did any testing on cpap users at any point before he put it out to us as an almost final product?

I told him all of the above via email and have not heard a thing back. I also tried to tell him the same thing on the form he sent out but the link did not work.

On the other hand I have also been trialing the papcap with wonderful results, love it so far...

The RT owner of Strapparatus just may have received considerably more "constructive feedback" than he ever expected. With a demanding full-time job as RT and high product hopes I'm sure it's easy to get overwhelmed.

I think it's great to have a helpful product concept in mind for CPAP users. However, product refinements just may be in order based on feedback here. Look at Brett's approach with PurSleep products, for instance. Product refinement was never a front-end proposition for him. Rather obsessive product refinement has been a never ending process for Brett. He continuously monitors exactly what it is that PurSleep consumers like and dislike.

That's a very good thing in my opinion!

Yes, I agree with all that you have said.

I have expressed my feelings to him in reguards to his headgear. I DO think that he has a decent product, but yes it needs some work done on it.

I hope he understands our problems and advice are intended to help him with getting his gear off the ground, not a personal assult.

Still I have thought this whole thing seemed a bit odd. Don't know why!!! Any thoughts?

bap40 wrote:I am thinking and it is only me here, that he got so frustrated with his sizing by measurements not working out as he had hoped.

I think you nailed it.

bap40 wrote:I do think part of the problem is the fact that HE is not a user of this equipment. He just is an RT.I do wonder if he did any testing on cpap users at any point before he put it out to us as an almost final product?

I think you nailed it again. It's one thing to "test" a mask/headgear on people in general who are on cpap/bipap but who are not the kind of proactive, informed "cpap users" who populate this message board. The majority of people on cpap that an RT comes across in his/her daily work probably tend to accept whatever an RT says to use, despite discomfort.

The average cpap user likely expects equipment to BE uncomfortable anyway, so doesn't complain. They just use it or... don't.

If testing is done in a hospital setting, the patient may not have much choice (or strength) but to endure whatever's put on them, no matter how it's strapped down. And a non-cpap-using RT doing the strapping down may be interested only in getting an airtight seal...no matter what.

As Dave said:

RiverDave wrote: It's definitely not a one size fits all piece of equipment
---
Like all other xPAP equipment, some will love it, some will hate it.

rested gal wrote:

bap40 wrote:I am thinking and it is only me here, that he got so frustrated with his sizing by measurements not working out as he had hoped.

I think you nailed it.

bap40 wrote:I do think part of the problem is the fact that HE is not a user of this equipment. He just is an RT.I do wonder if he did any testing on cpap users at any point before he put it out to us as an almost final product?

I think you nailed it again. It's one thing to "test" a mask/headgear on people in general who are on cpap/bipap but who are not the kind of proactive, informed "cpap users" who populate this message board. The majority of people on cpap that an RT comes across in his/her daily work probably tend to accept whatever an RT says to use, despite discomfort.

The average cpap user likely expects equipment to BE uncomfortable anyway, so doesn't complain. They just use it or... don't.

If testing is done in a hospital setting, the patient may not have much choice (or strength) but to endure whatever's put on them, no matter how it's strapped down. And a non-cpap-using RT doing the strapping down may be interested only in getting an airtight seal...no matter what.

As Dave said:

RiverDave wrote: It's definitely not a one size fits all piece of equipment
---
Like all other xPAP equipment, some will love it, some will hate it.

I bet it would make a good Dennis the menace sling-shot

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Slingshot

bap40 wrote: Still I have thought this whole thing seemed a bit odd. Don't know why!!! Any thoughts?

I wonder if it has to do with expectations. I think we tend to maintain a certain business related paradigm as consumers. That paradigm is consciously and subconsciously built from having observed relevant patterns and practices. Generally I think the human subconscious is very busily engaged in drawing associations and forging conclusive patterns toward maintaining our paradigms.

IMO the interactions of virtually any struggling one-person upstart company is virtually guaranteed to be at odds with any paradigm we maintain relative to much larger established businesses. Just a wild, outrageous guess on my part. But you asked!

If we are lucky enough to get additional well-meaning upstart companies here (very different from traditional cash-cow spammers), then perhaps a fluid adjustment of expectations may help the overall process. Oh how I would love to see plenty of companies coming here and bending over backwards to give us exactly what we want!

-SWS wrote:

bap40 wrote: Still I have thought this whole thing seemed a bit odd. Don't know why!!! Any thoughts?

I wonder if it has to do with expectations. I think we tend to maintain a certain business related paradigm as consumers. That paradigm is consciously and subconsciously built from observing common practices and related patterns. Generally the human subconscious is very busily engaged in drawing associations and forging conclusive patterns.

IMO the interactions of virtually any struggling one-person upstart company is virtually guaranteed to be at odds with any paradigm we maintain relative to much larger established businesses. Just a wild, outrageous guess on my part. But you asked!

If we are lucky enough to get additional well-meaning upstart companies here (very different from traditional cash-cow spamming), then perhaps a fluid adjustment of expectations may help the overall process. Oh how I would love to see plenty of companies coming here and bending over backwards to give us exactly what we want!

But then you would be running for Congress wouldn't you??

Snoredog wrote: But then you would be running for Congress wouldn't you??

Nah, I'd just be a happy beneficiary of free enterprise based on consumer demand of all things----instead of sad corporate/insurance business-leveraging tactics.

No comment on the product, but I did do some web searches.....

Den


http://www.linkedin.com/in/jmoriarty

http://savannahnow.localconnect.com/det ... 98&cid=700

<Link Removed Per Admin>

"Rested Gal" wrote:

bap40 wrote:I do think part of the problem is the fact that HE is not a user of this equipment. He just is an RT.I do wonder if he did any testing on cpap users at any point before he put it out to us as an almost final product?

I think you nailed it again. It's one thing to "test" a mask/headgear on people in general who are on cpap/bipap but who are not the kind of proactive, informed "cpap users" who populate this message board.

The following is from the blogspot, a sales visit, my empahsis:

The inventor wrote:So, I go into how this "strapparatus" works, that is, basically explaining that this is a replacement for those who have issues with the traditional headgear. The manager, just doesn't see any advantage in the product. Of course, I did not bring a mask of any description (which in this case would not have mattered).

O.