I'll drop that sucker at the soonest opportunity. Sometimes at the summit I just want a jacket, gloves, camera and an apple. I'll always think about what is necessary, and of course factor in the problems of weather, distance, etc. Better to remain flexible about "what you need" for a given task.
Sure, you can imagine a "having to cut your arm off" situation where you are extremely sad that your pack is 200 yards away, but think about it a little and you'll conjure up just as many situations where the lump of coal did no good at all.
Fun topic! +1