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Permalink Reply by Mike on October 25, 2009 at 11:51pm

i wouldn't sweat it about size of CPAP -- they're all pretty small and portable, and airport security is familiar with them and duty-bound to let you bring it on as a carry-on and not count it as such. also, CPAPs tend to come with nifty little travel bags to make all this a piece of cake.

what i would recommend is that, if you can afford it, and once you are happy with the CPAP you have, to get a spare to keep at the lake house. i know if it were me, and i needed to go somewhere every weekend, there would inevitably be weekends that i'd forget it. i would plan on that and get an extra to keep out there.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 26, 2009 at 8:58pm

Some CPAP machines are smaller than others, and all common CPAPs come with travel bags.. My current favorite CPAP is a DeVilbiss IntelliPAP, which travels very well. The only problem with the IntelliPAP is that it's travel bag is too small. I put it in a bigger Respironics Series M bag or a camera bag. You might want to get a separate travel / backup CPAP to keep at the lake house and to travel with. It is much easier to travel with a CPAP if you don't use a humidifier; they take up room, add weight, add complexity, and need water.

Make sure that you pack a cheap 15' extension cord and a couple of spare filters in your CPAP bag. Make sure that you have everything you need in your hand carried CPAP bag that you need in case you make an unexpected overnight stop while you travel.

Make sure that if you take your humidifier off of your machine that you have, or don't need, an adapter to use your CPAP without a humidifier. Respironics M series are one type of CPAP that requires that an adapter be put on the machine if you take a humidifier off of it. If I were to make any changes to my setup when getting it ready for travel, I would test it before I pack it to make sure that something isn't missing (that means assembling it, starting the machine, and putting the mask on -- before packing it)..

It is also a good idea carry a spare mask (it can be put in checked luggage); don't ever put your machine in checked luggage because it can be damaged. On small commuter planes, I don't complain when my carry-on CPAP bag has to be put into a luggage compartment at plane side -- it isn't handled like checked luggage, you check it when you get on the plane and pick it up when you get off of the plane.

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