Camping With A CPAP: Part 4

After delaying as long as possible I faced the night of camping with a CPAP. Since I had a big ass battery I might as well use all the CPAP’s features. (I did run the CPAP off a 12v plug in instead of it’s regular AC plug. They say it reduces battery consumption to avoid the AC conversion. I’ve verified that is true.)

Night was colder than expected. The temp dropped probably 40 degrees. Snug in my sleeping bag I didn’t care.

The CPAP cared. It pulled in air, humidified it, then pushed humid air through a hose exposed to 45 degree conditions. That exceeded the hose’s heating capacity. It became filled with condensed water. People with more CPAP experience apparently call this a “rainout”.

It’s not fatal, but it’s annoying as hell. First it made dumb sounds, just enough to make me half awake. Then it spewed water all over my face! Nobody can sleep through that! It sucked being all wet and the hose kept making gross gurgling noises! Water was all over my sleeping bag. It was in my hair and all over the tent. It was like a thirty foot Labrador Retriever had ducked into the tent and slobbered on me.

It was condensed distilled water, the cleanest water ever to get thrown in my face. But I’ve had better nights.

I set the heated hose to a higher setting and the humidity to a lower setting. I cleared out the hose (which spilled even more water on everything) and tried to go back to sleep. I fell asleep. I’d solved it! Nope. Two hours later the Labrador Retriever of doom returned.

Dammit! I sat there in the bad lighting of a flashlight trying to dry off and tweaking CPAP settings. Then I heard the neighbors launch into commotion. I heard someone say “Eek, a raccoon!” The exact words I’d imagined. You can’t make this shit up! Other voices joined the commotion. There was the clatter of a campsite being hastily cleaned. I felt pretty smug. I keep a clean camp. All my food is locked in a raccoon proof (not bear proof) cooler or a Milwaukee Packout that could stop a rhino.

I felt smug about my clean camp, and that I’d been willing to go full Thunderdome on raccoons. I like to think that’s why they left me alone. (It’s not, but it’s a nice thought.)

I drifted off to sleep. Then the hose did another “rainout”. Now I didn’t feel smug about anything. It happened several times in the night.

This is probably a good thing. Just as I’m touchy about the CPAP, I’m uptight about sleep. Most people accept that an occasional bad night’s sleep is no big deal. I was that way myself for my whole life until I wasn’t. Last year it got in my head that if I miss a nights sleep I’ll rebound into a state somewhere on the spectrum of between death and exhaustion. Mock me if you want but we’re made by the things we experience. I ain’t afraid to throw down with a raccoon but missing sleep had me worried.

The point is, I got up sleepy and unrested at the ass crack of dawn and… nothing. I was fine. Like a normal healthy person.

Wow! I don’t know what I was expecting, but mildly groggy was better than all imagined outcomes. I was almost giddy with relief. That’s what recovery is all about!

I forgot the brats but sure as hell didn’t forget the coffee. While that was percolating I found out I’d also forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste. In the chuckbox, I found dehydrated toothpaste pellets and a travel toothbrush. They worked fine. I think I tossed that junk in there in 2024? Past me was a stand up guy!

I percolated several cups of coffee and drank them happily. Then I tried to go back to bed and sleep a bit more. I was defeated by another “rainout”. The CPAP was self identifying as a lawn sprinkler. I thought about the guys motocamping. I have things to figure out with the CPAP before I can go motocamping.

No complaints, it is what it is. Rather than sit there all moody, I cooked half my bacon and eggs. Delicious. The rest I saved for later.

After that it was time for a new gadget test. I’d borrowed a cellular WiFi hotspot and was (uncommon for me) camping in geography with (weak) cell service. I turned it on, then turned on my old decrepit MacBook Air that’s now a Linux box. This was going to be awesome! It wasn’t. The WiFi hotspot didn’t give me internet. My cell phone can be a WiFi hotspot too but I don’t like to use it too much. However, it did work. Different carriers? I used my old cracked iPad to post a short message to my blog. It was proof of concept if nothing else.

I was looking forward to another advantage of campgrounds over dispersed camping. This campground (like most) has showers. How civilized! More dumb mistakes ensued. I forgot to pack soap. I forgot shampoo. I had a towel and that’s the only thing my dumb ass had remembered. I stood under the water and called it good. Getting sprayed with water was the theme of this trip.

With my CPAP’s heater and humidifier running as normal but also air leaks and general mayhem, I’d used a lot of battery. I was at 53%. In theory, anything over 50% means I’d done one day and was set for a second day. But 53% is too close!

I have a 12v charge line for my battery box. I plugged it in to the cigarette lighter of my truck. The truck pushes 20 amps, the box pulls 10 amps. So long as I run the motor, it’ll be fine. It was already lunchtime so I set out to drive to a burger place for lunch. Then I remembered I’m broke. I’m not complaining, I made decisions I don’t regret but which do have repercussions. There was no burger budget.

I really wished I had those brats! Instead of the longer trip to a country bar I made a short one to the nearest (and only) gas station / convenience store. When I stopped, the charge cable felt warm to the touch. That’s not good. I unplugged it. I was at 56%.

I bought a pack of brats and an ice cream sandwich. Nine bucks total. Frugal me! I started the truck and plugged the line back in but now it wouldn’t charge. Did I fry my truck’s cigarette lighter? Seems like I might have.

I’d only reserved the campsite for one night. I’d planned all along to extend another night but hadn’t committed until I’d found food and verified I had slightly more than half a battery left. OK Curmudgeon, lets try a second CPAP camping night.

More in part 5.