Thanks all for your suggestions.
Cellmeister -- Thanks for the pics of the Stick's innards. Could you elaborate on how you could open a new (i.e. un-dropped) Stick? Would it have to be glued back together, or would it just snap back together w/o glue?
Franklyspeaking -- Yeah I thought of covering the exterior with nail polish but thought that would look pretty janky especially once it got scratched up. Maybe a cover would be better... maybe my Stick could use a "condom!"
Maybe I'll order a second Stick to pop open and modify. I don't want to risk disabling my new primary unit..
FWIW, I got the idea for an LED-less Stick when I was using it to vape in a movie theater last night. Is it possible to use your hand to (mostly) cover the LED? Sure -- that's what I did. But holding it that way seems awkward to me, and it's hard to completely block the light.
It's my own preference for the cosmetics or aesthetics of the thing. I want my public use to be as discreet as possible. I want to reduce -- not pique -- curiosity. Why draw more attention than necessary?
Having the LED visible basically announces to anyone looking that the Stick is an electronic device. This increases onlookers' potential curiosity: "Why is that guy sucking on an electronic device? That's weird, I've never seen anyone do that before." But without a visible LED, there's no reason an onlooker would even suppose it was electronic. With the LED off, it would look more like other -- non-electronic -- devices that people have seen others commonly use in public, e.g. asthma inhalers.