03-13-2025, 02:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-13-2025, 02:54 PM by objecttothis.
Edit Reason: grammar
)
Cheaper Backpacking/Travel/Off-grid CPAP options
Disclaimer: I make no money from any of my recommendations. I just want to pass on what I'm doing.
I'm preparing for a 9 day backpacking trip in the Wind River mountain range, so weight is a significant consideration, but as I started pricing out what it would take to be able to bring a CPAP on the trail... Let's just say, it gets expensive VERY fast. So I thought, there has to be a better option. My health insurance is catastrophic-only coverage, so all of my sleep apnea equipment is out of pocket. Thus my motivation to find a better option. Here is what I found:
CPAP $550
My Resmed Air Sense 10 is bulky and heavy, so that wasn't going to be a good option. I've taken it car camping before, but it uses a lot of electricity and carrying distilled water for humidification would make it even worse. My initial research all pointed to the Resmed AirMini Travel CPAP, but at more than $1100, that seemed pretty ridiculous to me. I even looked at sites like Supplier #2, (DME link removed) who specialize in low hours refurbished CPAPs but the cheapest I ever found was $985. Then I found dotmed (think eBay for new and used medical equipment). I searched and found a Resmed AirMini with 6 runtime hours for $550! There are a few other options for travel CPAPs which are light weight and possibly less expensive but I believe none of them offer humidification options (see below). One note is that I still had to send my prescription to the seller for them to be authorized to ship the order out.
Weight Savings: 2.09lbs
Cost Savings: $435
Battery $35-$99.48
A quick YouTube search reveals all kinds of CPAP battery options, probably one of the most frequently mentioned are the Medistrom Pilot 24 and Pilot 24 lite models, but at $389 new I was about to give up. I did find several listings for used ones on eBay and some dipped as low as $125 but with no history of the usage, it would have been a bit of a risk. Then I thought "hey wait, in the end, this is just a battery and there are much cheaper options than that. So here there are two options. The DIY or the non-DIY but still cheaper option. I did both of these options because I wanted the option of my 12Ah LiFePO4 battery on shorter car camping trips but you only need to pick one.
DIY $35
A 12.8VDC 7Ah LiFePO4 battery weighs about 735g, is less than half the weight of an equivalent AGM battery and can be deep discharged (unlike SLA batteries). I have a 12Ah ReDoDo LiFePO4 battery and it's fantastic. What's even better is they are cheap. Highly rated 7Ah batteries are going on Amazon for less than $30. Now you will need to buy an inline 10A fuse holder two F2 connectors some heat shrink tube and a SAE connector to make it safe and easy to connect/disconnect, but even if you've never done it but have a few tools, it's not too difficult to learn.
Weight Savings: -200g (vs. Medistrom Pilot 24 lite)
Cost Savings: $354
non-DIY $99.48 (or less)
I did some research and found a USB C to Resmed power adapter so I just needed a battery with enough watt hours to last at least a full night's sleep (with a little to spare) and capable of PD65 charging output (a.k.a 65W, 20VDC, 3.25A). I landed on the Anker 737 24,000mAh battery bank. In my testing this battery gets me easily 13hours running the AirMini @ 10.0cmH2O with EPR level 2 on. It's more expensive than the DIY option but lighter and still a lot cheaper than Medistrom but still simple. Do some searching. There are several other battery banks that are a little less expensive, which people have said works with this setup.
Weight Savings: -100g
Cost Savings: $289.52
Mask/Hose $60.76
The AirMini is limited in mask choices if you want humidification. If you don't need humidification, just get a cheap Resmed AirMini to standard 22mm adapter and use your own hosing/mask for free. If you do want humidification there are a few options but the lightest is the Resmed Airfit P10 for AirMini. At $165 I thought, "this is stupid, I can do way better than that." I learned a few lessons here. One is that they tell you that the AirFit P10 and AirFit P10 for AirMini are two different masks and they are not interchangeable. While this is technically true, the only real difference between the two is the base mask/HME pod part and the hose. The pillows and head straps are the same. I also learned that if you buy the parts separately and are willing to buy from sites like eBay you not only don't need a prescription. I picked up a AirFit P10 Head Strap ($4.78 ea), Medium AirFit P10 Nasal Pillow ($9.99 ea), AirFit P10 Connector for AirMini ($19) and AirMini hose/filters kit ($26.99) for a total of $60.76
Weight Savings: 150g (vs. an adapter, slimline tubing and my Respcare Aloha Mask)
Cost Savings: $104.24
Humidification $4.11
Carrying 1L of distilled water on the trail with me (1kg /2.2lbs) was not something I was looking forward to. This is where the AirMini really stands out. Inline in the hosing is a capsule where you can place a HumidX or HumidX Plus pod and that's all you need for humification! At only 5g each they are also ridiculously light for what you get. Except Resmed sells them at $37 for a 3-pack ($12.33 ea). So I thought (again) "this is stupid, I can do better than that". Low and behold, Amazon to the rescue. There are a couple different sellers selling aftermarket HME pods at $24.69 for 6 plus a 20-pack of AirMini filters! ($4.11 ea)
Weight Savings: 995g (vs 1L water)
Cost Savings: $8.22
Charging $174.99 - $220.98
Given that I was going to be away from power outlets for 9 days, I needed a solar panel capable of charging the battery bank (or DIY option). I wanted something foldable arrayed in a way that I can strap it on the back of my multi-day pack and charge the battery while hiking and during breaks. Medistrom offers a 50W folding solar panel specifically designed for the Pilot 24 and pilot 24 lite batteries but at $315 I thought to myself "this is stupid, I can do better than that". That and the Medistrom panel is really wide, so not great for strapping to a multiday pack. After a bunch of research I landed on the SunJack 60W Folding Portable Solar Panel because it has a PD30 USB C output and that would simplify charging the Anker 737. If you chose the DIY battery route you need to buy an MPPT Solar Charge controller (I got a Bateria Power 10A LiFePO4 Sunrock 10Pro controller because it has bluetooth so I can see the charge status) for $45.99. You could get away with the SunJack 40W Folding Portable Solar Panel ($116.91) and it would even be lighter (the 60W is 5lbs!) but on a cloudy day where you were hiking below the treeline it would be rather difficult to charge the battery fully. I'm on the fence about it.
Weight Savings: -1000g
Cost Savings: $94.02 - $140
Cables $33.99 - $43.28
If you go the Anker 737 route you just need a PD30 capable USB C to USB C cable ($3.40) and a PD USB C 20VDC to Resmed AirMini 24VDC power adapter. I bought the CASIMY branded one on Amazon ($30.59) because someone posted a review about using it with the Anker 737 to power the airmini, but there are a couple of them out there. Just make sure they are compatible. If you went the DIY battery option then you need a DC5521 (barrel connector) to SAE connection adapter to be able to easily connect the solar panel to the MPPT charge controller ($9.99) and a 12VDC Car to 24VDC Resmed AirMini power adapter. I bought the KFD branded one on Amazon ($33.29) but there are others out there. I chose to disassemble the car cigarette lighter connector and solder on an SAE connector ($1.50) to make it nice and easy to connect my battery to the 12-24VDC adapter, but you could also purchase a cigarette to SAE connector adapter ($9.99) if you don't want to solder.
This is probably the only category that's more expensive since the Medistrom option comes with all cables you need.
Weight Savings: -100g
Cost Savings: -$33.99-$43.28
Summary
I was able to put everything together I needed for $923.32 and it gets me a really good backup/travel CPAP option as well. Compared to buying the "recommended" option at $1832.34 I'll say it's a win.
To maintain our status as an educational organization, links to DME-owned or DME-operated websites and links to pages that sell prescription-required items are prohibited in forum posts. This is stated in the Apnea Board Rules.
I'm preparing for a 9 day backpacking trip in the Wind River mountain range, so weight is a significant consideration, but as I started pricing out what it would take to be able to bring a CPAP on the trail... Let's just say, it gets expensive VERY fast. So I thought, there has to be a better option. My health insurance is catastrophic-only coverage, so all of my sleep apnea equipment is out of pocket. Thus my motivation to find a better option. Here is what I found:
CPAP $550
My Resmed Air Sense 10 is bulky and heavy, so that wasn't going to be a good option. I've taken it car camping before, but it uses a lot of electricity and carrying distilled water for humidification would make it even worse. My initial research all pointed to the Resmed AirMini Travel CPAP, but at more than $1100, that seemed pretty ridiculous to me. I even looked at sites like Supplier #2, (DME link removed) who specialize in low hours refurbished CPAPs but the cheapest I ever found was $985. Then I found dotmed (think eBay for new and used medical equipment). I searched and found a Resmed AirMini with 6 runtime hours for $550! There are a few other options for travel CPAPs which are light weight and possibly less expensive but I believe none of them offer humidification options (see below). One note is that I still had to send my prescription to the seller for them to be authorized to ship the order out.
Weight Savings: 2.09lbs
Cost Savings: $435
Battery $35-$99.48
A quick YouTube search reveals all kinds of CPAP battery options, probably one of the most frequently mentioned are the Medistrom Pilot 24 and Pilot 24 lite models, but at $389 new I was about to give up. I did find several listings for used ones on eBay and some dipped as low as $125 but with no history of the usage, it would have been a bit of a risk. Then I thought "hey wait, in the end, this is just a battery and there are much cheaper options than that. So here there are two options. The DIY or the non-DIY but still cheaper option. I did both of these options because I wanted the option of my 12Ah LiFePO4 battery on shorter car camping trips but you only need to pick one.
DIY $35
A 12.8VDC 7Ah LiFePO4 battery weighs about 735g, is less than half the weight of an equivalent AGM battery and can be deep discharged (unlike SLA batteries). I have a 12Ah ReDoDo LiFePO4 battery and it's fantastic. What's even better is they are cheap. Highly rated 7Ah batteries are going on Amazon for less than $30. Now you will need to buy an inline 10A fuse holder two F2 connectors some heat shrink tube and a SAE connector to make it safe and easy to connect/disconnect, but even if you've never done it but have a few tools, it's not too difficult to learn.
Weight Savings: -200g (vs. Medistrom Pilot 24 lite)
Cost Savings: $354
non-DIY $99.48 (or less)
I did some research and found a USB C to Resmed power adapter so I just needed a battery with enough watt hours to last at least a full night's sleep (with a little to spare) and capable of PD65 charging output (a.k.a 65W, 20VDC, 3.25A). I landed on the Anker 737 24,000mAh battery bank. In my testing this battery gets me easily 13hours running the AirMini @ 10.0cmH2O with EPR level 2 on. It's more expensive than the DIY option but lighter and still a lot cheaper than Medistrom but still simple. Do some searching. There are several other battery banks that are a little less expensive, which people have said works with this setup.
Weight Savings: -100g
Cost Savings: $289.52
Mask/Hose $60.76
The AirMini is limited in mask choices if you want humidification. If you don't need humidification, just get a cheap Resmed AirMini to standard 22mm adapter and use your own hosing/mask for free. If you do want humidification there are a few options but the lightest is the Resmed Airfit P10 for AirMini. At $165 I thought, "this is stupid, I can do way better than that." I learned a few lessons here. One is that they tell you that the AirFit P10 and AirFit P10 for AirMini are two different masks and they are not interchangeable. While this is technically true, the only real difference between the two is the base mask/HME pod part and the hose. The pillows and head straps are the same. I also learned that if you buy the parts separately and are willing to buy from sites like eBay you not only don't need a prescription. I picked up a AirFit P10 Head Strap ($4.78 ea), Medium AirFit P10 Nasal Pillow ($9.99 ea), AirFit P10 Connector for AirMini ($19) and AirMini hose/filters kit ($26.99) for a total of $60.76
Weight Savings: 150g (vs. an adapter, slimline tubing and my Respcare Aloha Mask)
Cost Savings: $104.24
Humidification $4.11
Carrying 1L of distilled water on the trail with me (1kg /2.2lbs) was not something I was looking forward to. This is where the AirMini really stands out. Inline in the hosing is a capsule where you can place a HumidX or HumidX Plus pod and that's all you need for humification! At only 5g each they are also ridiculously light for what you get. Except Resmed sells them at $37 for a 3-pack ($12.33 ea). So I thought (again) "this is stupid, I can do better than that". Low and behold, Amazon to the rescue. There are a couple different sellers selling aftermarket HME pods at $24.69 for 6 plus a 20-pack of AirMini filters! ($4.11 ea)
Weight Savings: 995g (vs 1L water)
Cost Savings: $8.22
Charging $174.99 - $220.98
Given that I was going to be away from power outlets for 9 days, I needed a solar panel capable of charging the battery bank (or DIY option). I wanted something foldable arrayed in a way that I can strap it on the back of my multi-day pack and charge the battery while hiking and during breaks. Medistrom offers a 50W folding solar panel specifically designed for the Pilot 24 and pilot 24 lite batteries but at $315 I thought to myself "this is stupid, I can do better than that". That and the Medistrom panel is really wide, so not great for strapping to a multiday pack. After a bunch of research I landed on the SunJack 60W Folding Portable Solar Panel because it has a PD30 USB C output and that would simplify charging the Anker 737. If you chose the DIY battery route you need to buy an MPPT Solar Charge controller (I got a Bateria Power 10A LiFePO4 Sunrock 10Pro controller because it has bluetooth so I can see the charge status) for $45.99. You could get away with the SunJack 40W Folding Portable Solar Panel ($116.91) and it would even be lighter (the 60W is 5lbs!) but on a cloudy day where you were hiking below the treeline it would be rather difficult to charge the battery fully. I'm on the fence about it.
Weight Savings: -1000g
Cost Savings: $94.02 - $140
Cables $33.99 - $43.28
If you go the Anker 737 route you just need a PD30 capable USB C to USB C cable ($3.40) and a PD USB C 20VDC to Resmed AirMini 24VDC power adapter. I bought the CASIMY branded one on Amazon ($30.59) because someone posted a review about using it with the Anker 737 to power the airmini, but there are a couple of them out there. Just make sure they are compatible. If you went the DIY battery option then you need a DC5521 (barrel connector) to SAE connection adapter to be able to easily connect the solar panel to the MPPT charge controller ($9.99) and a 12VDC Car to 24VDC Resmed AirMini power adapter. I bought the KFD branded one on Amazon ($33.29) but there are others out there. I chose to disassemble the car cigarette lighter connector and solder on an SAE connector ($1.50) to make it nice and easy to connect my battery to the 12-24VDC adapter, but you could also purchase a cigarette to SAE connector adapter ($9.99) if you don't want to solder.
This is probably the only category that's more expensive since the Medistrom option comes with all cables you need.
Weight Savings: -100g
Cost Savings: -$33.99-$43.28
Summary
I was able to put everything together I needed for $923.32 and it gets me a really good backup/travel CPAP option as well. Compared to buying the "recommended" option at $1832.34 I'll say it's a win.
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Moderator Action: DME Link Removed
Moderator Action: DME Link Removed
To maintain our status as an educational organization, links to DME-owned or DME-operated websites and links to pages that sell prescription-required items are prohibited in forum posts. This is stated in the Apnea Board Rules.
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