I'm not much of a knife guy so maybe I should call them hand guards? Anyway, looking at bayonets and Kabars of the old school, they all have a large and functional cross piece to keep your hand and sliceable fingers from slipping forward. It seems to me very few knives, even so called tactical blades, have what appears to be useful versions of these anymore.
What am I missing? Could it be the good stuff still has them and the others are mere posers or has the style of usage/tactics changed to reduce the need for such. I'm certain it is much easier and cheaper to leave them off the design. Is this a hot topic in the knife world I know nothing about?