Aggressively checkered grips in extreme (and artistic) patterns is the latest fashion. I have a set of G10's on my P938 and they are about as rough as I would tolerate but the front and rear straps aren't highly worked.
In the '80's when Devel, ASP, and a lot of others were coming out with "combat" 1911's the major emphasis was the melt job for snag free carry and smooth grips with windows to see the round count. Those old schoolers were modifying the guns with the features their experience thought necessary for use in street shootouts. They guns were considered an extreme for high risk carriers. Most of the standard gun users were carrying revolvers then and auto's were the rarity.
Fast forward to now and we see the gun industry adding more and more extreme features, which very well may be contrary to actual heavy users experience. What kind of grips do the tactical and speed shooters prefer? Heavily textured with exotic patterns? I don't see that much. Those shooters are using them extensively and for the most part it seems to be the GI checkering is the limit.
I always find the comment you need to get a good grip when you hands are soaked in sweat or blood to be interesting - the implication is that you were clueless about the confrontation and are reacting by some miracle after exertion or getting wounded. It's a bit late in the game, eh?
I'd work on awareness, not a gun centric emphasis on what grip might be needed after your awareness completely failed. Traditional checkering is what Browning and the US Army thought was needed in ? 1911 - no A/C, on horseback in the field or living in tents in August. They had a good handle on it.
