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I created the 1st
Class Sleeper ® to stay alive!
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The
Sleeper Story
I’m Bob Duncan, the
inventor of the 1st Class Sleeper. This product was invented more out of
necessity than anything else. I’m 48 years old and have been flying
professionally for 29 years. I was very content with my job and my life,
except for a major sleep deprivation problem. On my days off, I was
exhausted all the time.
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I commuted twice a week for six years. First there was the 2 hour drive to Seattle, then a 3˝ hour flight to Anchorage. That wasn’t even the tough part. The tough
part was traveling home after working a full shift - on duty for 12 hours,
then a 3˝ hour flight back to Seattle, and then I had to get in my truck
and drive for 2 hours to my home. I was falling asleep at the wheel.
Sometimes I would have to pull over 5 and 6 times during the drive home to
take naps. My two hour drive home was turning into 3 and 4 hours. When I
got home, I was too exhausted to do anything. My kids couldn’t understand
why dad couldn’t even wrestle when he got home. My wife got tired of me
always having to nap when I got home, when she really needed a break from
the kids.
I had to find way to get some real, deep, sleep on that flight home so I
wouldn’t drive off the road, asleep at the wheel. Being a big guy at 6’1”
230 lbs, it was no easy task finding a way to sleep. I tried everything,
row of empty seats, using every pillow on the plane (I once used 25 pillows
interwoven with blankets on a row of 3 empty seats and I still couldn’t get
real deep sleep). One time out of total frustration, I took 11 pillows and
stuffed them behind me in my lumbar and upper back area. I immediately
started to slide forward and had to use the seat belt to hold (harness) me
in place. Two hours later I woke up. Until that point I have never slept
over twenty minutes on a commute home. I knew I had something. The only
problem was, my head had flopped over on one side and I had a killer
headache because of it.
AN IDEA WAS BORN
I started working with all kinds of inflatables to make
a product that was lightweight, small, and use a material that wouldn’t “sweat”.
We now have that product perfected. As Dick DeBartolo of ABC News said,
“it's like (an) Aerobed®”. With just 10 to 11 deep breaths of air (about
10% of total capacity) you will be supported from just below your belt-line
to the top of your head. Your head can never “flop” over again. It can only
move as if you were laying on your pillow at home. When using the 1st Class
Sleeper on the commute home, I now EXPECT to get an hour and a half to two
hours sleep on every flight home. With that deep sleep, I could then stay
awake easily for the drive home. My kids now get a dad who actually has
energy to play with them when I got home. My wife can now get the break she
needs to collect her sanity (four young kids are a hand full).
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