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.
Actually, I voted I would pay more for it. Lol, so clearly I am not. But, it is still fine by me without it. HD mentioned it was designed to keep your fingers off the blade and I think it does that well. So who actually isn't going to buy the knife without a steel guard? Will you?
Join the NRA
JYD #69 If a 6 turned out to be 9
Join the NRA