I'm not sure about what the question actually was...
The Scrapyard handles hold up well, and are more comfortable than Busse / Swamp Rat handles in cold weather. I prefer the looks of Micarta and G-10, though.
The coated blade seems to be a cost saving / marketing / camo thing for the Busse companies. I don't mind them. Some of the coatings, like sage, look pretty nice and do help against corrosion in wet environments (although the steel used in Busses is very corrosion resistant for a non-stainless steel).
Only you can choose what you can justify and what you can't. But me, all of my Busses (of which there are quite a few) are users, or will be. Sure, they are pricy, but they do what they were built to do very well. They are as tough as knives come while still holding a good edge and being able to cut things. Although the Swamp Rat and Scrapyard (spelling? I never remember how the names are supposed to be spelled) lines are cheaper, and in that sense easier to justify, they are still pretty pricy compared to most knives. And the Busses are better, in fact, so I go with them. Better how? Well, the SR-77 steel used by Scrapyard is tough, but has unimpressive edge retention. The steel used by Swamp Rat, SR-101, has great edge retention and it's also tough. But INFI, used by Busse, is tougher than either of these two and still has impressive edge retention. And INFI is also much more corrosion resistant than the other two. And I also like the Busse designs more.
If you want a really tough knife that you can rely on, Busse makes such knives. They come with a great warranty. And if you don't like them, you can always resell them even used without taking an enormous hit - sometimes, you can even sell them for more than you bought them, even after use. I would try one and see how you like it. They are "worth it" to me and many others. Some will disagree. Well, that is life.
