Been thinking about getting a Mora. I'd use it when out hiking and backpacking as a general utility knife but also as a survival knife in a pinch. Probably get the classic style with the red birch handle -- inexpensive so I won't be tempted to baby it.

So, guard or no guard? Seems like, especially when wet, one's hand could slip onto the blade with no guard, but the one with the guard seems like it'd be less secure in the sheath and that the sheath might not hold up as well under hard use since the sheath has a slit (to accommodate the hand guard) that extends about 1/3 of the way down the sheath.

Here, you can see the hand guard sticking out of the sheath:


Out of the sheath:


No hand guard:


HJ