I bought the Xbox 360 Sling Bag from Best Buy on Wednesday.  I thought it would be a cool little shoulder bag that my 360 could ride in while I showed it off during Thanksgiving.  Big mistake.

I was in a rush Thursday to pack up for the drive to see my family and quickly packed my 360 and all the accessories into the bag.   First of all, while the bag does look darn cool, it has nowhere near the amount of space that the XB-40 Xbox Carrying Case has (that big black shoulder bag that most of us use.)  The main compartment is supposed to hold the 360 and the power supply brick, but there is barely enough room for them; they can’t fit side by side and so you have to stack one on top of the other—not very safe and a great opportunity to scratch/dent/crack your 360 with that huge brick.  The controller compartment is just big enough to hold 2 wireless controllers and only has a Velcro strip to keep them in the bag, no zipper or flap.  The accessory compartment is big enough to hold memory cards, a remote and a headset but still, it is a little too snug.  The game compartment on the outside of the bag looks cool, but there is nothing inside to separate your game disks (no sleeves like in a CD case,) and you are forced to just put your stack of games into the compartment with nothing to keep them safe except for a little bit of foam lining on the outside.

The biggest design flaw was the shoulder strap.  The shoulder strap connects to the bag via two chrome-plated clips that you can depress to detach the strap.  Now, why in the world they would design a detachable strap on a shoulder bag with no other handles defies all logic.  It makes absolutely no sense unless, maybe, P-21 (the makers of the bag) wanted you to flog yourself with the strap for being such a tool for buying the thing.

In retrospect I should have tested the strap first like I do with all my bags (console bags, laptop bags, backpacks, whatever, I usually test them) but I was in a hurry.  The first time I hefted the full bag over my shoulder, the chrome-plated clips came apart and it sent my Xbox 360 crashing to the hardwood floor. 

After a good 15 minutes of loud cursing I checked my 360—no visible damage.  I checked the Sling Bag straps.  I snapped them into place and gave a fairly light tug on them.  The clips came apart easily.  The bag was utterly useless.

I didn’t get a chance to check if my 360 was still working until a few hours later.  It seems to be working fine, and hopefully the accursed P-21 Xbox 360 Sling Bag didn’t any cause any stealth damage to the internal components.

I don’t know if my particular bag was defective and the straps on the other bags were okay, but I don’t care.  It’s going back to Best Buy.  It looks cool but the combination of the lack of space, the irrationally detachable shoulder strap, and the horrific near-death of my 360 earns a big “F” from me and a warning to everyone else to look for a more suitable and dependable carrying case for your shiny new console.