What's wrong with the boss jack? I really don't think you'll find better.
My one and only complaint about the boss jack is that it's handle is a little slippery, but that's just what you get with such a small profile. That, and I need the money more than I need *any* physical belongings of any sort, including truck and clothes on my back. But... if I can gain a tiny bit of financial stability in the next few months, I could consider buying something so low in value that it wouldn't be worth selling in hard times. thus lower cost models get higher preference within the same category.
The buck 124 is a beautiful knife, but I actually would avoid it because of the 'big bowie' aesthetic. Being a well known visual style, to me, actually makes it look larger than it is. I also try to avoid hollow grinds in anything but delicate task smaller knives, for edge stability and wood binding reasons.
That sword is gorgeous and would be high on my list, but the 2.2mm (just over 1/16") is too thin for the kinds of things I'd want to put it through like batoning through potentially knotty wood. I have a svord orange handled knife with the clip point at 6" blade length - and that big guard manages to make the knife feel huge in the hand compared to the BOSS jack.
So far the two knives that are exactly what I want are either too thin or fairly expensive by comparison. The m95 that's available for 75$ is 1.61" (4.1mm) thick, where the m95 thats 150$ is 1.96" (5mm) thick. 0.035" (1/32") doesn't seem like much, but it can have a huge impact on durability and balance. The third option is to take this knife (a Condor Garudo Tanto) (picture from personal defense world):
for 58$ and hand grind the tanto out of it, but it's only 3mm (0.111", or under 1/8") thick. I like the full tang, because it would be easier to fix a damaged handle scale than the smashed rubber on a missed batoning strike, but the steel, and heat treat are inferior and the thickness is way under what I'm looking for...
I think I'm going to end up with that 75$ m95. I've been eyeballing it for so long, and that profile of handle and blade still, years later gives me goosebumps over how efficient it is...
