The LCD BacPac is a detachable LCD screen for your 1080p HD HERO camera. As a removable accessory, the LCD BacPac keeps your camera as small and light as possible, yet provides the convenience of an LCD screen when attached.



Enhanced Convenience

• Framing complex scenes; see what you are shooting
• Playback video and photos directly on your HD HERO camera
• Use your HD HERO camera as a powerful everyday camera

LCD BacPac Features

• Attaches to 1080p HD HERO cameras featuring the rear HERO Port
• Simple one button design allows for easy on/off and playback control
• Normal speed, fast forward, and fast reverse video and photo playback
• Integrated speaker with volume control

So as some of you may know I went off to Bali over June July... let's just call it the land of milk and honey! With warm water, incredible waves and massive fish!!
We first stayed in the Bukit peninsula in Bali where I surfed the major surf breaks of Bingin, Uluwatu, Dreamlans, Impossibles... waves are amazing, crowds are big and the reef is sharp! I did one shore dive at Uluwatu and there was a lot of fish around, it was difficult to figure out which fish to shoot because there are so many fish species that I just don't know at all! I didn't see much that first dive but it was still a great experience! We then went to Nusa Lembongen which is a 40min cruise away in a boat. We stayed there for 3 days and I surfed Shipwrecks (a crazy right hander that can give you the barrel of your life) and Laceration (another ridiculous right hander that can make you think you are in paradise until you realize how shallow you actually are). I did 2 trips over to Nusa Penida, this island used to hold the world record for Dogtooth Tuna so needless to say I was really excited!

 
The currents are hectic, and when I mean hectic I mean really really dangerous...I've never seen currents moving that fast in my life! I was diving in a small bay but diving with the current (because when it's going that fast there isn't much of an option) and at a few spots the current actually pulls down so you really have to be careful and watch your depth. The water is super clear, I'm talking 30-50m visibility so there's no sneaking up to reef fish! they see you doing your duckdive at 30m away and start swimming away! I managed to shoot a small doggie (I'll call him a puppy to give you a rough estimate on the size!) but I saw 2 GT's of 15kg plus which got my heart going! unfortunately for me and luckily for them they headed off long before I was even close enough to shoot.
After we left Lembongen we travelled around a bit and when we got back to Bingin area I managed to meet up with a South African and an expat American and joined them on a charter to Nusa Penida. This trip was one of the highlights of my whole trip! A few tips if you are planning on doing this, you need to know exactly where you want to go because if you charter a boat the "captain" generally wont have much of a clue. you need to be ready to deal with "broken" engines; if the "captain" doesn't want to travel further they will suddenly discover all sorts of problems with the boat. many of the companies don't look after their boats so keep that in mind when trying to find a charter.
It was an hour's journey in the fast boa from Bali to Nusa Penida and the first spot we stopped at looked amazing! Looked a bit like Jurassic Park with massive cliffs hitting the water and this "pinnacle" island sticking out of the water... we jumped in 800m infront of the small island and drifted towards it at quite a speed with the current... I was diving with a Freedivers 1.2 with 2 16mm rubber and had a double wrap but it felt like I had a 9mm compared to the other two divers who each had 1.65m guns with 5 16mm rubbers and 8mm spears...


on the first drift I saw 5 wahoo about 200m infront of the island and then as we got to the island I saw GT's... but not jus one or two or twenty...hundreds and they where MASSIVE! our main target was the Dogtooth Tuna and the wahoo but on the first drift I couldn't help myself and put in a great shot on a big GT stoning it with a spine shot. It was over 20kg and as I was pulling up on my line I saw my spear pull straight out, my shot had killed the fish but didn't have enough power to go all the way through the fish after hitting the backbone....so I helplessly watched my biggest fish to date drift down in the fast current... not a great way to start the day!

 
thenext few drifts was a repeat of the first with sightings from 1-15 wahoo infront of the island, school of small doggies 2-3kg, GT's, host of other fish... I did see two Doggies over 30kg but they where beasts and not interested in me, luckily because I'm not sure if I would have had the will power to not pull the trigger!!
in the front of the pinnacle there was a ledge with a "dead spot" in the current and if you got it right you could hang there for a bit and wait to see what would come around without the current pulling you past in a second... on one of my dives there I saw a nice doggie of about 10kg come in and I slowly swung my gun around while I looked the other way, when I turned to look he was right infront of me giving me a perfect shot... as I pulled the trigger I saw the spear go all the way through and I new I had placed a good shot and could put some pressure on the fish...nothing really gets you ready for the power of these fish! I was by that time being pulled down one side of the island and the fish decided to go the other way so he pulled me across the island against the current and down the other side! I was so happy when I finely got my hands on him!
I also lost a wahoo... this trip was the first time I've ever seen them and I had no idea how to approach these guys and it was a real learning curve. I managed to pull the trigger while I was aiming slightly behind the head of one and by the time the spear struck the fish it hit him just infront of the tail... I really should have fought it more gently as it quickly pulled out and left me longing for another opportunity to get one that just never came!
on my last drift I had decided that I really wanted a GT and decided to drift on the "wildside" of the island where there was alot of white water because on the other side the GT's where staying really deep! while I was drifting in the clouds of white water there was a clear patch and I saw a beautiful GT coming towards me; I lined up quickly and took a near perfect shot. the fish could give a small fight but I could see that the shot must have been near the spine and it was coming up quickly.
we had one wahoo (despite seeing so many!), two doggies over 10kg and one GT of 20kg...perfect day!


a few days later I was off to G land... near perfect 4-6ft waves greeted us as we arrived and I was straight in for a 3 hour surf session, the next day was also filled with surfing and then the waves dropped off... I was told there was good spearing so on the first dive I shot some local reef fish which was interesting but I was actually looking for some game fish. On my next dive as soon as I cleared the impact zone and loaded my gun i headed off to search for some good terrain... I found some promising structure in 3m of water and dived down and as I looked to my left this beast of a GT came straight in at me and almost started rubbing his back on my speartip... needless to say I wasn't going to argue with the fella and I planted a good shot just below the spine which took out all his energy and I had him in my hands quickly... that fish was somewhere between 15-20kg... the next day I was out there again hoping for more of the same and blanked completely! much to the very disappointed people at the surf camp!
The following day I did the same and this time just as I loaded my gun after dragging my way through the strong current and swell I had a beast of a GT with a serious suicide wish almost impale itself on my spear, this one gave me a serious rev and dragged me first into the slightly deeper water and then straight back into the impact zone! it was a crazy fight and I was blown away when I got my arms around him! The fish weighed over 20kg and also fed the whole camp and staff!

The total score for G-land was:

3 GT’s (one of over 10kg, another over 15kg and another over 20kg)

2 parrots (amazing eating!)

Few smaller travely’s which where also such good eating!


I've attached some of the photos

I'm back from Indo and what a trip it was!!! got some insane fish!! will write up a story soon!!

For those of you who don't know; I'll be away in Indo for 3 weeks surfing and spearfishing! But don't fret if you need gear, I have a friend who will be running my shop while I'm away and he will be responding to all the emails and will also be answering my phone calls.
Our wetsuits will be arriving this week so now is the time to get that new suit to keep warm! I'll be getting camo and black suits so give me a call or email and come and hav

I'm running a special on the Mares fins for R1150 for a set or R1200 including 3mm wetsuit socks!

Man have I been blessed!! On Saturday I went out with a friend of mine, Pete, in his 4,5m semi rigid rubber duck to Rocky banks.
The morning didn't start off too well because when we got to Simonstown where the boat is kept we realized that the keys don't work and had to drive all the way back to the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town to collect the right set of keys!!
So we launched a little late but made it to Rocky Banks to find a bunch of people trawling up and down but not catching much, so we joined the party and also started trawling some lures to try and locate the fish.

Pete managed to get one fish on the trawl and then things got desperate... so I decided to trawl towards the other boats in the hope that I might bump into some friends who where out there... the reason for this is that we where out there with no fishfinder which made finding the fish impossible!

When we got to the boats I saw their boat and we asked very nicely f we could join them on their search for the tail... no sooner had we joined them that their boat stopped and the two divers jumped over with the skipper manning the flasher twitching it like mad.
I jumped over immediately and also started working my flasher and in a second I had tail cruising past my flasher! I breathed up quick and when I levelled off at 12m I pulled the trigger on a nice fish and to my surprise I missed!!! I missed my next shot too!!!! 

Now things where getting desperate!!! I loaded up my gun for the third time and this time I made sure of my shot and got a nice one out of the school!

This whole stop start routine carried on for a bit with me getting a fish out of each school of fish while my mates who all brought 2 guns along managed to get atleast 2 fish each out of a school as the skipper would pass them their second gun as soon as they had shot their fist fish!
The fish where really deep with most of them being shot between 10-18m! But it was an amazing dive

I went out on Friday last week to Rocky Banks which is about 9nm offshore from Cape Point. It was a great day but a bumpy ride out! We first stopped at the snoek fleet because we heard there where some tail coming through.
I jumped over and dropped my flasher to about 10m and on my first decent I saw two big snoek gliding away from me. I lined up on the closest one and waited for him to give me a bit of an angle and managed a very poor stomach shot but surprisingly enough the shot held and I was able to slowly wrestle my first snoek up!
Snoek are very hard to shoot because they are exceptionally skittish due to the fact that they fear seals so much and we as spearo's must look a lot like a seal. And they have very soft flesh so your spear tends to pull out easily. I've been told to take head shots because it gives the barb something to hold onto so I was very surprized when my stomach shot held, that being said I fought it extremely gently
I saw a few more snoek but they dissapeared very quickly but luckily we managed to catch a few on spinners.
We then heard that there was some yellowtail 1nm south and headed out to go look.

We found the first school of fish just under the surface and Ant shot his first one quickly but the schools where moving around a lot and you either got your fish or if you missed your shot you missed your opportunity.
Justin managed to plug a really nice fish for the day and we all had 2 tail on the boat except for Justin who managed 3!
It's great working with experienced guys because when you shoot your fish you call for the next gun immediately and once the guy on the boat hands it to you, you dive down and shoot the next fish. This way you will manage to get at least two fish out of the school before it moves on.
You also need a good flasher and the Freedivers flasher that I used was perfect; easy to set to a specific depth and brought the fish in!