Here's my take on Knives, guns, gear, and tools, and what drives people to choose those things that they use for work or play, There are people who only care about function, there are others who only care about looking good doing what they do even if they have to work harder doing it, then there's those folks who appreciate the beauty in those things they use, but demand that they perform just as well as they look, IMHO there's nothing wrong with any of their choices, they are just being themselves.
I'll use myself as an example, I've been told that I'm way too anal about my "stuff", certain things turn me off, for instance, I don't like the looks or feel of rubber and plastics when it comes to knives and guns, I have a modest collection of both, one thing you won't find in my gun safe is a rifle or shotgun with composite stocks or satin blued finish, two exceptions are my AR's and a Remington Mohawk Nylon 66 .22Rf Rifle, the rest all sport beautiful wood stocks and deep bright bluing, I've owned two high quality bolt action hunting rifles with composite stocks and sold them, not because they weren't fine guns, but because they had no soul and no appeal past their function.
I'm the same way with knives, I've owned knives by ESSE, Ontario, Becker, and Gerber USA, all performed great, all were Tactical, had coated blades and black or tan composite handles, IMHO they are all ugly knives, I will admit that I have quite a few bushcraft type knives that have Micarta scales, they're all customs for the most part, and they have other redeeming qualities that allow me to tolerate them, the rest of my knives are handled in wood or stag, the Micarta sales have attractive spacers in different colors, I have some knives with tube pins and some with Mosaic pins, many have lanyard holes, It's never bothered me to have to clean them after using them to process fish or game, again, in my opinion, a knife can be beautiful and still be a fine functioning work knife.
On the other hand, I don't care how well a knife cuts, how cheap or expensive it may be, if it's not attractive, if it feels cold to the touch, if it doesn't have "soul", it's just a sharp piece of steel that doesn't inspire any pride of ownership or individuality.
Did I mention Mora ? (grin)