I have modified and sold hundreds of 12” and 18” Ontario’s. I did that because people wanted them, but I never could quite warm up to them myself.
This is my own personal preference, so take it for what it is worth. But, I think the Ontario falls strangely in the middle of what I like. It is too thick to be more like a traditional machete (which I use a lot), yet not thick enough to put a nice, even convex on like a golok, parang, etc. So, it never quite did it for me. Plus, I have not been the biggest fan of the handle. The handle (at least on the ones I removed the handles from) were hollow, meaning you could only shape it/sand it so much before you either weakened it, or reached a hollow spot.
If you do decide to go with an Ontario, here are a couple things to consider on the saw back. The saw could be very useful for sawing notches in things (instead of carving them). But, it could also get in the way for things like batoning (really chew up your baton), and also using as a draw knife. You can not easily grip the saw area. As far as using the saw for grabbing things, it is a lot safer, and less work to make a gancho hook. If you don’t know what that is, youtube it and you will find an excellent video on it.
I got a Condor Golok immediately after they first came out. It seems that Condor has been continuing to refine their edges and geometries as time goes on. But, when I got my Golok it wasn’t that sharp, and rather thick in the edge. It was not a big deal to me at all because I am a knifemaker. I just took some meat out of the grind, and convexed it the way I like, and now it is one of my top performers. I use it as a benchmark for testing new stuff, and it is kind of like my “stand by” for when I don’t know which tool to grab, I just grab that one because I know it will work.
Now, I recently acquired Condor’s Bushcraft Parang for an upcoming review. What makes me think that Condor is improving edge geometry as they go is that this thing came ready to go. It wasn’t a super micron polished mirror edge or anything, but it was very sharp, very nice, and most important of all great geometry. My first instinct with any new large blade is to at least polish and sharpen it up, and perhaps even do a little re-profiling. But, with the parang, I just started using it, and have done a lot of work with it would any modifications. Perhaps the new goloks will come with the same type of edge now? Can’t say for sure, but maybe they are different now than the old one I originally received? But, based on another thread going on this forum, maybe not either?
On the batoning question, I wouldn't hestitate in the least to beat the bejezus out of any of these pieces of steel with a wooden baton.
Just things to think about.
B