OGIO Bounty Hunter 17" Backpack Review

Reviewed by Brian Abenes in Jacksonville, Florida

After purchasing an absolutely monolithic laptop (17" Dell e1705) I was in the hunt for an equally monolithic backpack that suited all my criteria:

• Stylish exterior
• Roomy enough for my laptop as well as plenty of books for school
• Sufficient padding in the laptop compartment
• Affordable ($50-70 was the most I wanted to spend)

I decided to go for a backpack rather than the trendy messenger bag simply for comfort reasons. I want as much support as I can get if I'm going to be carrying books and a laptop.

I stumbled upon the OGIO Bounty Hunter after some quick searches of these forums and read that it was specially made for 17" laptops. Being a huge fan of OGIO's designs, it didn't take me long to decide this was the backpack for me. I did a search on eBay for the Bounty Hunter and I was shocked to see it was listed for only $55 (free shipping too!). It took me maybe, I don't know, 0.88 seconds before I hit the Buy It Now button and it was shipped from Michigan to my doorstep in Florida in 5 days.

The Bounty Hunter

You can find OGIO's product website for the Bounty Hunter HERE.

When I first opened the package and saw the bag itself, my immediate reaction was: "This beast is HUGE!" I had a big grin on my face as I was opening all the compartments .

• Laptop Compartment - My Dell e1705 fits quite nicely in the side-loading laptop compartment. It's snug, but not tight by any means. There is definately some room left over to fit a sleeve over the e1705 and still fit it in there.
  
  
  
  The padding is sufficient enough for me to where I would be comfortable without a sleeve. The only sides that are not protected with foam padding are ironically enough, the sides. However, the front and back padding provide enough of an overlapping lip on both sides to where I wouldn't deem it necessary for side padding as it should protect it from any bumps with blunt objects. The padding also allows the laptop to sit well off of the ground so you needn't worry about your baby's bottom.
  
  
• Main Compartment - Boy, oh boy, was I satisfied with this area. Unzipping the large upside-down U-shaped zipper reveals the quite spacious true interior of the backpack.
  
  In addition to my e1705, I was able to fit in the main compartment:
  
  • A 700 Pg. Textbook
  • A 1300 Pg Textbook
  • A 3-Subject Notebook
  • A 1.5" Binder filled w/ 130 Pages
  
  
  
  Now granted I probably wouldn't be carrying this kind of load on an average day of school, I just wanted to give you an idea of what it could hold. I'm certain I could've fit more but it would've been rediculously too heavy for my back to pack (I'm 5' 7").
  
  With that said, carrying the laptop, a textbook, and a notebook, I could comfortably carry that around campus with no problem at all.
  
  
• Organizer Panel - If you open this panel which hangs out pretty nicely, you'll find 3 open pockets, 2 zippered pockets, a velcro pocket, an ID window, 4 pen holders, and a small lanyard for your keys. There's also enough room to fit some small headphones or a calculator.
  
  
  
  
• Side Pockets - The Bounty Hunter has a total of 3 side pockets (2 small pockets on one side, and 1 long one that spans the height of the other two on the other). I was easily able to fit spare batteries, a power supply, and my Wireless Logitech MX700 Mouse with its charger base (I really ought to get a travel mouse) in these pockets. I usually put a 20 oz. bottle in the taller pocket.
  
  
• Audio Pocket - Unfortunately I don't own a portable audio player so I can't exactly use this space for its actual purpose, but there's no reason you can't put any other small objects in there like CDs or DVDs.
  
  
  
  
• Straps - The straps are contoured, padded, and very comfortable. My last two carrying cases were a sling and a messenger bag, neither of which had full-length padding on the straps. There is also an adjustable sternum strap that can be moved up and down to your preference which doubles as a good place to clip a cell phone.
  
  
  
  
• Carrying Handle - Towards the top of the backpack attaching the two straps together is the carrying handle. Being a part of the straps, it's very sturdy and stable. OGIO also uses a different material on it so there's no need to worry about losing your grip.
  
  
• Backing - The backing also has a padded spine that travels from top to bottom of the backpack to add some additional comfort for carrying.

Overall

I've had absolutely no problems whatsoever ever since I've gotten this bag and I recommend it to anyone especially those with the larger sized laptops.

PROS:

• Durable and comfortable
• Should fit most if not all 17" Laptops (Dell e1705 fits fine)
• I found it decently priced at $55 (well worth every penny)
• Black color and design looks smooth and professional
• Plenty of room inside for books + a laptop

CONS:

• Seems to be in limited quantity (I had to get mine off of eBay, but I could be wrong)
• Some more color combinations might be nice (I love the Chocolate Bone color combo on their Metroid backpack)

Score: 5/5

 

nice review Brian! You're right, I just did a search and this backpack is hard to find at any online retailers. Maybe because such large sized bags don't sell so well, I don't know. It does look rather massive, but if you've got a 17" screen laptop then it's what the doctor ordered. Thanks for the pics and nice take here. Good luck in Calculus and Physics this year

 

A Bounty Hunter, eh? Now who the . . . nevermind.

Nice review. Thanks for the comparisons with all the books inside - always good to see just how much fits in there. And I certainly think it is a good idea to have a backpack with a 17".

Chaz

 

Bounty Hunter meet Bounty Hunter. Coincidence?

And thanks for the compliments and good luck.

I was in the hunt for a good 17" bag review and couldnt find very many so I figured I'd make my own and share it.