Fiskar Hatchet

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Jerry_NJ

Jerry_NJ

Minister of Fire
Apr 19, 2008
1,056
New Jersey USA
I own a Fiskar axe and think it is the best : )

I am thinking about getting a Fiskar hatchet and see there is a 14" and a 17" - about the same price, why not the 17" ? Isn't longer better? I know Fiskar also makes a chopping axe, but that is in my mind a short axe not a hatchet. I also see a second choice in handle for less money - I can look it up if that would help.

I suppose the 14" may put fingers at less risk but not sure that's the case. I need a hatchet (replacement for a couple I already have) for splitting small spits into kindling to facilitate starting a fire. I let my insert go out every night/morning.
 
I like my x27 so much I want one in every size. I want the 14" hatchet for the stringy pieces that won't quite let a split fall apart. One flick of the wrist should separate those in no time and it would be safer than choking up on my x27.
 
I just bought an X27...I'm friggin amazed! It splits better than a maul and it's a whole lot lighter. I was up in the woods yesterday bucking a mockernut hickory that came down in a storm. I was splitting 17" long 16" diameter rounds in half with a whack or two...sometimes three if they were stringy. The rounds were too heavy to carry so I was knocking them in half on the ground, then splitting them into cordwood on a stump. I can go on for hours with that axe....no sore shoulders and arms from the weight and shock I get with the maul.

I've got the 36" and the 28" axe as well - I liked the long one so much I figured I'd get the shorter one for use at the campground
 
You know I told a friend to get the 14 inch and the head is very light. Love the 27 though.
 
I have the short hatchet and like it. For what you use a hatchet for I would think the longer one could be unwieldy, it's almost in the "boys axe" category
 
Jerry_NJ said:
I own a Fiskar axe and think it is the best : )

I am thinking about getting a Fiskar hatchet and see there is a 14" and a 17" - about the same price, why not the 17" ? Isn't longer better? I know Fiskar also makes a chopping axe, but that is in my mind a short axe not a hatchet. I also see a second choice in handle for less money - I can look it up if that would help.

I suppose the 14" may put fingers at less risk but not sure that's the case. I need a hatchet (replacement for a couple I already have) for splitting small spits into kindling to facilitate starting a fire. I let my insert go out every night/morning.
Click to expand...

Here in the HDC echo chamber it is.
 
I found the X15 to be a great all-around tool... I use it for kindling and real splitting.
 
I have the X7 it is an amazing hatchet I love it
 
My wife got me the X7 Hatchet for Christmas. She bought on a Daily Deal after Thanksgiving for a great price. I finally used it the other day when it warmed up enough to let the insert go out for a few days and I needed some kindling. I've had a Collins Hatchet for many, many years but this little Fiskars Hatchet splits kindling like nothing I've ever used. Basically all that is needed is a flick of the wrist and the weight of the head to split kindling. I was actually using a slightly doughty piece of Red Oak wood as a chopping block. I went to stick the hatchet in the block and popped it in pretty good and the block split about half way so 2 more whacks and it was split, I was quite shocked. Now I want the X27.
 
Jerry_NJ said:
I own a Fiskar axe and think it is the best : )

I am thinking about getting a Fiskar hatchet and see there is a 14" and a 17" - about the same price, why not the 17" ? Isn't longer better? I know Fiskar also makes a chopping axe, but that is in my mind a short axe not a hatchet. I also see a second choice in handle for less money - I can look it up if that would help.
.
Click to expand...
It's not the length of the tool, it's how ya use it.:cool:


One thing, I noticed while browsing the x7 at Sears,,,, they have TWO different models on the shelf.
I suspect that one is an older version. The handles ARE different, both in color and design.

One has the orange and black handle (with the orange being somewhat non-slip)
The other is all black and seems less "grippy" to me. Not sure which is better.

Gonna get me one though!:)
 
I have an X27 and an X7, the 7 is used mostly for cutting and splitting when camping. I have a cheap hatchet from wallyworld for splitting by the stove as I hit the bricks with the edge and don't want to do that with the X7.
just for fun I grabbed my dads old maul to compare to the X27 ( I learned to split with it about 30 years ago) it just bounced off, I sharpened the rusty dinged edge and tried it again. for every round the maul penetrated an inch or so, I was getting good splits with the X27. The only rounds the maul blew through were birch...
Now the maul has been retired to knocking frozen splits loose from the ice.
 
Thanks,I didn't mark this post to notify me - wish that was automatic, it is on some other blog I participate on.

I have not yet purchased but still think the X17 may be what will best serve my needs - splintering splits on my porch to produce kindling - maybe to spit a split that is just to big. I figure I'll put a short round on the porch to protect against hitting the cement with the hatchet.

EDIT: The hatchet is the X11 which is 17 inches long, no one knows why Fiskar uses such a strange unnecessary mismatch between the model number and the length of the tool.

The Amazon reports unfortunately report many who experience problems with durability - one of the key marketing points of the Fiskar line is the strength of the handle head, where the head connects to the handle. I see no such reports here. I have my own experience with the X27 which has held up well to splitting about a cord of mixed hard//soft wood.
 
I always thought the number was the cm length
 
Nope, if centimeters, the X11 would be 11/2.54 (approximately) 4.3 inches, the hatchet/axe is in fact stated to be 17 inches.

I ordered one a couple of days back, and good 'ol Amazon will deliver tomorrow, just in time for the break in the sub-freezing weather in NJ. I'll take the warming even it it only get up to freezing at noon and will use the warm temperatures to move more firewood to my front porch - and the new hatchet to split some kindling out of the smaller spits. I have some well seasoned White Pine and a few pieces of kindling of that and a narrow split or two gets the hardwood going with no more than one sheet of newspaper to prime the whole thing. I don't use wood heat when the temperatures are above freezing - my geothermal HP is too efficient, burning hardwood cost more than the heat pump heat, yes I get some of my wood with sweat equity but I still consider a cord of wood to be worth at least $200.
 
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