A nice .357 or .44 mag revolver would make a much better backpacking gun, or even a 1911.
I've read a lot of reports about the DE being problematic, which is one of the main reasons I've never had much interest in spending the money on one. That and the fact that they are big, heavy, ridiculous and pretty much impractical for anything other than turning heads on the range, The one thing this gun really have going for it is it's coolness factor, other than that it leaves a lot to be desired, kinda along the same lines as the HK Mk23 socom.