It has fantastic glass, that is for sure. Super durable optic meant to be tossed around w/o worring about it.
Just got to be ok with the fact that its non-variable, being either 1.5x or 6x but nothing in between. If you want variable in the 1.5-6x magnification, there's the very good U.S. Optics SR-6 in single ($1,300 US) or dual focal plane ($1,500 US) that weighs in at 22.4 onces. Not exactly the same configuration (compact footprint of the Elcan), but another option out of many.