Dr. Lecter
Contributor
I have no idea why tech divers ended up with black gear, except that most of them are men and black is "bad".
Granting that the primary reason is probably what you say, I'll offer my own explanation. Black and minimalism tend to go hand in hand. The point of gear is to function, not serve as a visual distraction.
Thus, unless I want it to serve as a visual aid (smb, SOLAS tape placement on gear, etc.), my gear is black, non-reflective, and unmarked. While I won't go so far as to grind stamped logos off BPs, I do black marker out stitched logos, peel off stickers, and cut off patch-style logos unless I think I might sell the gear down the road. The reflective trim on my Fusion Bullet skin didn't bother me because it served a purpose, but the dumbass looking designs printed on it are something I wish I could peel off. At least they're black on black.
I've seen people who love the way their bright pink powder coated BP, hot pink harness straps, and/or neon wing look and I'm glad they're happy... all I can think of is how visually messy and distracting all that crap is. I confess I'm not immune though: I've kept an old H 'recycle'-style patch on one of my BP storage paks simply because I think it looks cool.