I have one. Like you said, it's a little heavy for carrying around in your pack, so mine tends to ride around in my jeep. The knife in the handle thing is a little hokey. If you are going at the job of hatcheting, the knife tends to fall out of the handle. Also, the magnet that holds the knife in fell out of my hatchet handle so it doesnt stay in there at all anymore. That said, Gerber does make nice axes and nice knives so they are both high quality, it's just the knife in the handle part that failed for me.
-Fritz