Taking the OminPod on extended wilderness trips

I have my own river raft and am going on a couple of 7-10 day remote wilderness river trips soon. I would really like to avoid an expensive “helicopter ride” out of the canyon so any experience and advice about living with the omnipod in extreme environments, both hot and cold, would be welcome.

I live in the frozen north and can tell you that the PDM does not like cold weather, even when kept in an inside pocket. I learned not to take it cross-country skiing because the glucose monitor simply didn’t work below 20 degrees or so.

I would think your main concerns would be providing a waterproof/temperature-safe pouch for the PDM and extra batteries and keeping your insulin the right temperature with insulated cases. The pods themselves would probably be fine - though I’d personally carry twice as many as I thought I would need. I’d also try to plan for a lot of extra emergency adhesive. Sweat can be a pod’s worst enemy.

But I’m the last person who’d consider participating in extreme or extended outdoor activities. Here in Texas, you’re lucky to get me to walk to the mailbox and back on a hot day. :slight_smile: Hopefully you can share what works when you get back.

I’ve had the same problem with my glucose meter on river trips in the past. Maybe I’ll bring a supply of those hand warmers in case it gets really cold.

I do carry a complete setup for MDI as backup if the tech fails me. I even keep it on a different raft just in case I flip and lose all my gear.

I can say from experience that it’s worthwhile to invest in high-quality waterproofing gear, although you probably already know that. I had a terrible experience with ziplocks once during a rafting accident.

I like to keep the PDM (and my Dexcom CGM receiver) inside its own nice waterproof soft clear(ish) case so that I can push the buttons and whatnot w/o ever opening the pouch or removing it from the waterproof pouch. And honestly, I would do BG checks with a separate miniature BG meter that you don’t care about as much. (Freestyle Flash is tiny and uses the same strips) The second meter can live in your pelican case or wherever. That way, the PDM never ever has to leave its waterproof shell while you’re on the water.

High Temps: There are some great cooling pouches by FRIO that use evaporative cooling. So you just need to get them wet every few days to “recharge” them and you never need ice or a freezer or anything like that to keep them cool. I would strongly recommend one of those for keeping your backup insulin from getting too hot.

Low Temps: Like Barbra said, PDM doesn’t work well. I’ve used hand warmers inside pockets while skiing and still seen low temp warnings, but that was pretty serious extreme cold (outside for hours skiing in --8 degrees with lots of wind). Also, I can’t think of anything better, so I’d recommend doing that anyway.

Good luck. Sounds like a great trip. I’m jealous. :slight_smile:

I’ve probably spent more on drybags/boxes than I did for my raft! Good idea about getting a waterproof container for the PDM. I’ll bet Aquapac makes something that will work.

Just to make you more jealous here are some links of photos of previous trips down the 2 rivers I am planning on doing this summer.

Dolores River, CO
http://riverjournals.net/photo/dolores_0505/index.shtml

Desolation Canyon, Utah
http://riverjournals.net/photo/deso_0805/index.shtml

Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing. Hope you enjoy your upcoming trips.

Someone needs to put together an Omnipod Users Trip. That would be a blast. JEALOUS.

That would be a remote “meetup” to say the least. If any of you folks are ever heading to Colorado in the summer let me know. I’d happy to take you down a river if we can work out the logistics.

I ordered 2 Frio cases yesterday. One for me and one for my daughter. That’s her with me in the pic. The water proof soft case you mentioned sounds great. Where would I find them? I deer hunt and fish (in the rain alot). I use the Zip lock bag routine.

Ditto this. While up on the mtn, even inside my inner layer pocket, the PDM gets too cold to function. The hand warmers should work well in an area near the pdm. Also, the cold tends to drain the batteries faster. I always carry extra pods when out for extended periods as well. Have fun! Where are you rafting?

Rob,
I ordered 2 Aquapac mini camera cases today. One for my PDM and the other for my Dexcom. I’ll let you know how they fit.

Cool let me know how they work.

The company is called Aquapac.
http://www.aquapac.net/usstore/waterproof-cases-for-multi-purposes-1647-0.html

I also have several pelican cases. They tend to me more reliable than the soft cases but are bulkier.
http://www.pelican.com/case_category.php?CaseSize=%&New=%

Rob,
The Omnipod and the Dexcom fit no problem. There is actually pleny of room.