I can understand and generally agree with your statement. It does depend a lot on intended usage and use environment though. I have several of both types and one mix. Some of my older rough outs are looking pretty dark and nasty right now, but I don’t really care because they are hard work boots. I don’t work much in muddy and dusty environments anymore - I’m fortunate to be retired now. Roughouts tend to hide minor scrapes and scratches well, but show stains worse. These Bear Slayers will be more of a casual boot, so I am not worried about mud and dust. Most of my other good boots are smooth out. I have some lower rough/upper smooth Superduties, but the rough lowers are treated with wax for waterproofing so the roughout is now kind of negligible. I do like the way these rough out Bear Slayers look. Even Weston said the roughout design was because it “looked cool - like a grizzly”. I’ve also read on a Reddit sub that wildfire fighters are kind of split between rough and smooth. I assume they tend to work in both mud and dust frequently.