IMO, it's worth it's weight in gold.  It's the only way I can get in my daily quota of 4 Walleye fillets/day....they have to be cooked just right.  Cast aluminum would be ok too.....but accept nothing less dunnd1.

I usually can usualy arrange to have the gear pack in the other canoe.....you know what that means!  Just tell your traveling buddies that their canoe isn't trimmed right.  They'll spend half a day moving packs around....Keep telling them it's not quite right.  Make sure you beat 'em to every portage.  Finally suggest they try the gear pack...."Ohh and Ahh" over how beautifuly the boat is now trimmed.  Let them now beat you to the portages....pay alot of compliments on the speed and lines of their boat and they'll willingly carry that gear pack....just to "get the trim right".

Wanna lose some real weight?.....get the coffee drinkers to carry their own mud and coffee makers/perkolators/presses.