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There are plenty of knives in the <$150 range that are quality and don't have that tacticool look. Take a look at Benchmade (though most of them are "tactical"), Spyderco, Kershaw and a few other high end production companies.
My personal recommendation for an all around utility folder that doesn't scream tactical would be a Spyderco Paramilitary. The handle is a bit long, but that translates into a very nice grip. The blade steel is high end, the blade shape is well designed and the opening hole very comfortable (though not quite as easy to flick in my opinion). The only drawbacks are the pocket clip which rides kind of high and the width of the thing, which is fairly wide due to the blade shape.
Picture of some of my knives from top to bottom:
Swamp Rat Rat Trap - ~$160 (discontinued)
Benchmade 710HS - ~$120 (M2HS model discontinued, now they use D2 steel)
Al Mar SERE 2000 - ~$140 (this is a bit on the heavy side)
Spyderco Paramilitary - ~$120
Can't really go wrong with any of those.
