I totally agree with thinking that some knives are to thick to be very good cutters. I found the Mutt was terrible in this regard although to be fair it was designed more as a entry tool. A full height grind can go a long way to fixing that. I much prefer a knife without the coating but I am glad that the scrappers come with it. I would rather remove the coating myself and save the money.
It costs a lot of time and money for a company to do that finishing work and I would rather spend my cash on good steel ,excellent ergos and a top notch heat treat. The Yard knives have that in spades and even better they don't have any
extra finishing to add to the cost. In many ways it is not what SYKC has that makes them special but what they don't have.