Update on CPAP Camping

I have recently found a new product to run my CPAP battery on when I am camping.  It's developed by HIMCEN, the EV450 and is available on Indiegogo's website.  It's a 444 Watt hour / 120,000 mAh lithium battery pack with lots of options for power.  Check out their website at himcenbattery.com they've got even higher capacity batteries that will be available in November!

120,000 mAh is roughly the same as my deep cycle battery amp hours, but at a fraction of the weight (7.9 lbs) and much more options.  I used it over the weekend to run my CPAP machine (with humidifier and tube heater turned off) and after 3 nights of sleep I still had 75% of the battery left over!  This is seriously a game changer!  

Here's what it can run:

It is listed right now for $385 - that's 23% off the $500 they will be charging!  I am not affiliated with EnerVision in any way, I just received my battery and used it and can't stop talking about how awesome it is!

One thing that would make it even better is if it had a 24 V output port.  My CPAP machine is 24V, so I currently plug my cigarette plug adapter into the one on the battery and run my CPAP that way, but if there was a 24 V output I could plug that directly into my CPAP and not have to run it through an adapter that changes the voltage to 24 volts - which would be even more efficient I would think!

Year Camping Goal Reached!

Yes!  You read that right!  I have reached my goal I set back on March 5th 2011 to camp 365 times (one full year of camping) before I turned 40 years old!  That's an average of 9.1 nights per year, so that's not too bad, right?  Here's some of my stats for the camping nights:

Backpacking Nights - 53

Canyoneering Nights - 30

Snowcave Nights - 16

Hot Springs Nights - 9

Boating/Rafting Nights - 25

Biking Nights - 1

Beach Camping Nights - 81

Plus a ton of other campouts!

I've camped 112 nights with the scouts in the troop I'm in now!

Does all this camping make me an expert?  Nope, I'm still learning on each campout the things that work well and the things that don't.  In preparation for each campout I still go through my list of things to bring, and debate on the things from previous trips that I thought I couldn't live without, or that I wished I'd had.  I feel like I've gotten better at being prepared for whatever happens, and that's good, but I also feel like we can work through unforeseen challenges we face, and that's even better.

Does that mean I'll stop camping now?  Not on your life!  I really enjoy camping and taking scouts on campouts.  I enjoy helping them experience the outdoors and helping them to learn and grow.  I like how I feel as I go outdoors and get away from my desk job.

Boy Scouts of America has given me much and taught me much.  I earned my Eagle as a 14 year old scout, and have been involved in scouting pretty much ever since.  It's a great program that helps young men to build confidence, character, and values that will help them as they grow up and become men.

The outdoors is calling, and I must go.

Lumberjack Campout 2017

This year for our yearly Lumberjack Campout (we go on a yearly lumberjack camp where we cut firewood and take it back to give to families in our neighborhood that need it) we sent the leaders out with chain saws to cut up 8-10 foot sections of logs, then had the boys team up and haul the logs back to the vehicles so that we could cut it up and chop them up close to the vehicles.  The boys liked it this way as they were able to do less trips out into the woods to haul back wood, and they felt tough lifting large dry pine logs.

One of our adults wanted some logs for himself, so we cut them to length and loaded up his trailer with logs he can then cut another day.

Right as we were finishing up the project it started snowing - we knew that there was a chance of that in the forecast but were hoping it would hold off.  We were prepared and were able to handle it just fine - our only challenge was one of the 12-seater vans didn't have chains, so it took some work to get it up one of the hills we had to climb to get out of there.  But that's a great experience for the boys (and leaders) to see that we can work through challenges and make it alright if we work together!

It was a pretty view from my tent window that morning though.

After the hard work all day long we took the scouts into the nearest town and played Wallyball at the local rec center, and then swam for a couple hours (and soaked in the hot tub).  It's a great way to reward everyone for their hard work and have fun together.  Between the rec center and being a Lumberjack, this campout is one of the scout's favorite over-nighters!