I bought my Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack nine months ago and now I’m writing a review. When I write a review it often means the item I’m reviewing is nearly worn out or ready to throw away. Once you know that it should give you an idea of how this review is likely to go. Nine months is not a long time.
According to the manufacturer’s website, the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack is a “Durable gaming backpack for 17.3″ laptops and peripherals”. I don’t think it’s durable at all. In fact, I find the quality fairly poor. I paid €65 for my Trust backpack. I wouldn’t do it again.
Before going any further with this review, I need to point out I didn’t buy the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack to carry gaming gear. I’m not a gamer, I’m a digital nomad. I bought the bag to carry my laptops and other electronics when I’m travelling.
Like many other perpetual travellers, I’m a minimalist. I carry just about everything I own with me. Unlike my main backpack (Why I Prefer to Travel with a Backpack Instead of a Suitcase), my electronics bag always stays with me on buses and planes. It has to be good because it houses my most important possessions.
How the Trust Gxt 1250 Hunter Backpack Compares to My Previous Bag
I used to carry my electronics in a laptop backpack made by Port Designs. It was an excellent bag. I travelled with it for more than five years. (Port Designs Laptop Backpack Review)
Apart from being more durable than the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack, my Port Designs laptop backpack was also considerably cheaper. It was a good investment. The material was thicker and the entire bag was well padded. I only got rid of it because the zip was broken. I was in Albania at the time and the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack appeared to be a good replacement.
Why I Chose the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack
One of the things I initially liked about the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack was its size. It’s built to hold 17.3″ laptops and is a little roomier inside than most of the other bags I considered. I thought the extra room would be handy when I’m doing long bus journeys and need to carry extra food and water.
The Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack also has a couple of side straps that help compact the depth of the bag when you don’t have much inside. I liked that as well.
Then there’s the integrated rain cover that stuffs into a zip compartment underneath the bag. None of the alternatives I considered had one. Water and electronics don’t mix and I tend to do a lot of walking. Often in the rain. I need a bag that can keep my electronics dry so a rain cover is important.
The Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack has plenty of pockets as well. Pockets are always handy and my first impressions of the bag were good.
Getting to Know the Bag: What I discovered
As I got to know the bag I noticed a lot of things I’d initially missed. Some of them were good, others were not.
Things I like
One of the side pockets has a special little rubber hole in it. I’m not sure why it’s there but it could be useful for pushing a cable through if you want to charge your phone while it’s inside the pocket. I suppose you could push your headphone cable through it too. I’ve never used it, but I like it.
The rear compartment that’s meant for a laptop has a padded divider inside. That makes it perfect for carrying two laptops. I’m guessing it’s like that because gamers sometimes carry keyboards with them.
Regardless of its true purpose, I like the division in the rear compartment because it makes it so easy to carry two laptops at once. However, the space in front of the divider is not padded at the bottom. That means if you use it for anything fragile you need to line the bottom. I use some old socks.
The rear side of the divider is padded at the bottom, but the padding is ridiculously thin. Too thin to offer much protection so I stick some socks in there as well.
The straps on the front are handy too. When I’m walking, I wear my big backpack behind me and my smaller one to the front. I find the horizontal straps stitched across the front of the bag are useful for hanging my glasses on. When I need them to check Google Maps they’re right there in front of me.
The Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack also has an adjustable chest buckle. I don’t use it often but when I’m only carrying the one bag it can be pretty handy. So can the carrying handle on the top of the bag.
Trust has also built a special hidden pocket into the ventilated padding at the back of the bag. It fastens with a zip. It’s only small and I’ve never used it, but its a clever idea.
The Things I Don’t Like
Now we get to the most important section of the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack review. It tells you some things you need to know if you are thinking of buying this bag to carry your electronics around.
The first thing to know is the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack fails to offer a lot of protection. Although the laptop pocket is reasonably well padded at the back and has little padding at the front, there is not enough padding underneath. This is a very poor show. If you buy this bag and then drop it or place it on the floor too hard your laptop may pay the price.
If you are thinking of buying the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack you also need to be aware most of the fabric is very thin. In the case of the fabric between the different sections, we are talking paper-thin.
The fabric at the side of the bag is not much better and there is no padding. If the bag receives a blow from the side, there’s not a lot of protection for the items inside. I’ve seen cheap backpacks on market stalls that are thicker and more durable than this one by Trust.
Now for the most worrying thing of all—the poor-quality shoulder straps.
The shoulder straps are one of the most important parts of a bag like this. It’s a bag you use for carrying expensive electronic gear. I may not be a gamer but I know gaming laptops do not come cheap and probably cost a lot more than the two laptops I carry around.
Even before I bought the bag, I noticed the padding on the shoulder straps was pretty poor, but I decided I could live with it. Unfortunately, the lack of adequate padding is just the tip of the iceberg. The straps also lack strength.
The shoulder straps are designed to look good, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. The strong-looking strip of canvas you see at the top of the padded sections disappear inside and then appear to exit at the bottom. Don’t be fooled. It’s not continuous.
The two padded sections are essentially nothing more than a couple of thin fabric tubes with a little foam padding inside. It’s a great pity the canvas strap doesn’t continue right through the tubes. If it did it may give the padded section some strength.
Both of the straps on my backpack are already coming apart and the padding is hanging out. It makes me nervous. I don’t trust the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack. Now, only nine months after I bought it, I’m having to start thinking about buying a new bag.
Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack Review Conclusion
This is an honest review based on my own experience with the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack. Granted, I’m not a gamer, but that’s not relevant. It’s a bag that’s made for carrying computers, keyboards, joypads, and other electronic gaming accessories. I use it to carry a couple of laptops, a few other electronics, and some other bits and bobs. Although it has some undeniably nice features, I would have to say the Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack is not very good.
If you have landed on this page because you are thinking of buying Trust GXT 1250 Hunter Backpack, I hope this review gives you the information you need.
Weak shoulder straps. Lack of adequate padding. I wouldn’t buy this bag again. Even if it was retailing at €10, I’d turn and walk away.
That may sound harsh but I’ve tried to be fair by pointing out the bag’s good points along with the bad. Overall though, this bag does not impress me.
I suggest you think long and hard before buying this backpack. If the straps snap your computer will hit the floor hard and computers are expensive to replace.
UPDATE: A few days after I wrote this review, I tossed the Trust backpack in the Trash. I’ve replaced it with a Port Designs computer backpack. If it’s as good as the one that accompanied me when I first began travelling, it will many years before it’s time to write a review.
Update (December 2022): My new Port Designs backpack turned out to be made in China. It was very poor quality. If you want to know how bad it was, you can read my review HERE.
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