So if the knives have nothing more than a rubber guard that is fine by me.
You're not alone. It's also fine with 3 out of 10 people who voted other than "no opinion" in a recent poll. The remaining 7 out of 10, however, disagree. For them a reinforced guard is either mandatory (i.e., they won't buy the knife without it) or important enough to pay more money for if necessary. So while I respect your opinion, you're clearly in the minority.
This is just my opinion, but I think the one piece molded handle with guards serves its intended purpose: To keep fingers off the blade in a thrust. No, it is problably not a good idea to beat on the guard with a big stick. That doesn't help traditional brass guards much either. If you want a knife with a double guard that you can beat on, I suggest saving your money for the new the Busse Team Gemini 7 knife.
