I have mentioned it before, and I won't lie about it, I am massively overweight, complete with several of the associated health impacts. Most notably GERD and Sleep Apnea. The GERD is treated with medication, and the Apnea.
Something else about it all, and I proved it again with travel over the Holidays. With travel, my activity level goes WAY up without me even trying,and I lose weight. BUT being CPAP dependent for my apnea has over hte years kept me limited, badly to State Park campgrounds, and private campgrounds wtih a power provided site, which is FAR less than ideal...
I had plenty of FSA money left over at the end of 2019, so I spent it as I saw fit on my medical care, and did LOTS of research with my Dr. and found the HDI Z2 Travel CPAP, with 12V adapter, pulling a mere 20 watts average, and only 35 watts during ramp up, I have found that the actual power usage is quite low. But that means I need to store 12V power in a format that I can afford, and is easy to transport.
WHile I am not going to brag and say it's perfect, because... it's not, But I have found the Everstart J45TKE from Walmart seems to be the answer to my at least short term electrical storage needs. I have tested it on at least 3 occasions and found that the jumper pack starts out at 12.9V and after 3 nights of use all night, I am still at 12.4v charge.
For longer off grid durations I have the Harbor Freight Tailgator 900w peak 700w running 2 stroke generator which will allow me to recharge the Everstart in a couple of hours, as well as run one or two other small devices. Most notably chargers for the phone, camera, and laptop.
This leads me to the other issue, that was somewhat causal, and somewhat the effect of my issue in the first place. You see I was involved in a BAD car accident with an uninsured, unlicensed driver in 2001, who decided to rear end my truck at 70mph. I was shoved through the seat back, the back wall of the cab of the truck and the front wall of the truck bed, leaving me staring at the sky and picking bits of glass out of my scalp. The hospital I went to didn't do a very thorough job checking me out, and sent me on my way. A week or so later the pain started, and left me with some serious, I don't want to move because I hurt too much issue. Well fast forward to 2018 when I finally find a doctor that will listen to me fussing "For Pete sake quit prescribing pain killers, and muscle relaxers and figure out what is going on!" which sent me to get LOTS of pictures finally done, only to discover, not much to my amazement, that I now have a degernative disk disorder
Did the wreck cause the degenerative disk disorder? I can't say one way or another. But to me there seems to be a good reason for suspiscion. And the doctor won't say definiatively. What I do know is after physical therapy I feel a LOT better, and am able to be more active, BUT...
I am now at a point where getting in and out of a vehicle requires that I grab my left leg and manually take it out of the vehicle, and place it on the ground, grab the side of the vehicle and lift myself up. Once vertical I am fine. Unless standing still for a long period.
For use camping / exploring, I use a set of old, early 2000s vintage Swiss Gear expandible trekking poles, however I would prefer, and am considering trying to find a more suitable staff / cane.
My biggest unresolved issue and it may sound dumb, is my boots. It hurts like the Devil to lace up my shoes, so I use slip ons or Velcro closure shoes, but I very much prefer hi top hiking boots. I've seen some devices called Lock Laces, or Bungee Laces I want to try. I am not ready to give up on my hiking boots just yet...
Something else about it all, and I proved it again with travel over the Holidays. With travel, my activity level goes WAY up without me even trying,and I lose weight. BUT being CPAP dependent for my apnea has over hte years kept me limited, badly to State Park campgrounds, and private campgrounds wtih a power provided site, which is FAR less than ideal...
I had plenty of FSA money left over at the end of 2019, so I spent it as I saw fit on my medical care, and did LOTS of research with my Dr. and found the HDI Z2 Travel CPAP, with 12V adapter, pulling a mere 20 watts average, and only 35 watts during ramp up, I have found that the actual power usage is quite low. But that means I need to store 12V power in a format that I can afford, and is easy to transport.
WHile I am not going to brag and say it's perfect, because... it's not, But I have found the Everstart J45TKE from Walmart seems to be the answer to my at least short term electrical storage needs. I have tested it on at least 3 occasions and found that the jumper pack starts out at 12.9V and after 3 nights of use all night, I am still at 12.4v charge.
For longer off grid durations I have the Harbor Freight Tailgator 900w peak 700w running 2 stroke generator which will allow me to recharge the Everstart in a couple of hours, as well as run one or two other small devices. Most notably chargers for the phone, camera, and laptop.
This leads me to the other issue, that was somewhat causal, and somewhat the effect of my issue in the first place. You see I was involved in a BAD car accident with an uninsured, unlicensed driver in 2001, who decided to rear end my truck at 70mph. I was shoved through the seat back, the back wall of the cab of the truck and the front wall of the truck bed, leaving me staring at the sky and picking bits of glass out of my scalp. The hospital I went to didn't do a very thorough job checking me out, and sent me on my way. A week or so later the pain started, and left me with some serious, I don't want to move because I hurt too much issue. Well fast forward to 2018 when I finally find a doctor that will listen to me fussing "For Pete sake quit prescribing pain killers, and muscle relaxers and figure out what is going on!" which sent me to get LOTS of pictures finally done, only to discover, not much to my amazement, that I now have a degernative disk disorder
Did the wreck cause the degenerative disk disorder? I can't say one way or another. But to me there seems to be a good reason for suspiscion. And the doctor won't say definiatively. What I do know is after physical therapy I feel a LOT better, and am able to be more active, BUT...
I am now at a point where getting in and out of a vehicle requires that I grab my left leg and manually take it out of the vehicle, and place it on the ground, grab the side of the vehicle and lift myself up. Once vertical I am fine. Unless standing still for a long period.
For use camping / exploring, I use a set of old, early 2000s vintage Swiss Gear expandible trekking poles, however I would prefer, and am considering trying to find a more suitable staff / cane.
My biggest unresolved issue and it may sound dumb, is my boots. It hurts like the Devil to lace up my shoes, so I use slip ons or Velcro closure shoes, but I very much prefer hi top hiking boots. I've seen some devices called Lock Laces, or Bungee Laces I want to try. I am not ready to give up on my hiking boots just yet...
