The Best Camping Hatchets of 2024

Fiskars usually shows up in our Best Budget Hatchet category because they’re known for making affordable tools destined for big box stores. But, with their Norden Collection, they’ve aimed at the premium category and have done a stellar job.

The Fiskars Norden N7 ($120) is a traditional hatchet that features some modern amenities that still maintain its heritage, but are updated to keep it swinging for the long haul. 

At 14 inches, the N7 is the smallest in the Norden line-up which includes a chopping axe and splitting axe. The N7 features a hickory handle with FiberComp Overstrike Protection. This unbreakable protective sleeve is made from the same material found in Fiskars X series of cutting tools and is reminiscent of the leather collars that have been traditionally used to keep the handle from getting damaged. This feature will help the N7 make it to its 25-year guarantee. 

The N7’s carbon steel head has been double-hardened and precision ground to allow it to stay sharper longer. It has also been coated not only to protect it from corrosion and abrasion but also to reduce friction. Additionally, the connection between the head and handle is reinforced by a casting shell that holds the head in place.

Aside from all of these great characteristics, the Fiskars Norden N7 is lightweight and balanced. This not only allows for faster swings, but also a more powerful impact. We found this to be particularly appealing for clearing trails and brush as well as prepping wood for the fire. The perfect blend of old and new, the Norden is the best overall hatchet on the market today.

It’s hard to ignore when a brand gets something right. That being said, the Fiskars X7 ($35) remains on the list as our Best Budget Hatchet for the second year in a row.

If money is tight, look no further than Fiskars X7. Like Gränsfors Bruk and Hults Bruk, Fiskars has been in the business for many years and has earned a strong reputation. The X7 holds to this longstanding tradition and provides buyers an affordable option to keep around camp or throw in the backpack for longer adventures.

The Fiskars X7 is well-built to split wood into kindling and is best suited for small to medium-sized logs. This light and portable hatchet has a sharp blade out of the box.

However, it does require a bit more regular maintenance than other hatchets on our list. Still, the power behind the axe head is strong enough to handle most basic splitting needs, and its light weight allows users to increase chopping speed.

The Fiskars engineers created this hatchet with affordability in mind, and it truly performs without costing an arm and a leg (when used properly).

Read Review: Finnish Budget Hatchet: 14 Inches Of Cutting Power

Husqvarna has made a name for itself by offering a large range of forest, home, and garden tools — most of which run on gasoline. But on the other side of the business, they offer a wide variety of axes and hatchets. A fine example of this is their classically designed Swedish Style Hatchet ($60).

Comprised of a 1.3-pound hand-forged Swedish steel head and a 15” hickory handle, the Swedish Style Hatchet looks as if it jumped out of the past. But we assure you, it’s ready to be a worthy companion on the trail, in the yard, and at camp. There’s no frills here, just hickory, steel, and a thoughtfully sharpened bit. Which, sometimes — is all you need.

Designed for cutting smaller limbs and splitting dried firewood, the Swedish Style Hatchet is on the heavier side. However, that heft will help you get through as much wood as you can process before getting tired. 

It’s hard to not see the similarities between this hatchet and Hults Bruk’s Agdor 15. Both are the same weight and length, and aside from some aesthetic differences, perform almost identically. The major difference between these two is that the Agdor is almost double the price of this budget-friendly forest tool.

Though the Swedish Style Hatchet doesn’t come with a full sheath, the bit cover allows you to lash it to your pack and transport it to and fro. Also, getting a hand-forged head at this price is a real steal. If you’re looking to save a few dollars without sacrificing quality, this is the hatchet for you.

Modern hatchets benefit from modern designs and materials, and the Gerber Bushcraft Hatchet ($70) is the finest example of that we’ve encountered yet.

Featuring an angled synthetic handle with improved ergonomics and grip as well as a refined, coated steel head for easier chopping and splitting, the Bushcraft Hatchet can provide excellent results with less effort, when compared to its traditionally designed counterparts.

An additional benefit of the synthetic handle is its ability to reduce shock when chopping, splitting, and hammering.

If that’s not enough, there’s a water-resistant compartment in the handle designed to carry a small lighter, some tinder, paracord, and whatever else you think you can fit in there.

Being that this hatchet can perform multiple tasks and has onboard storage, we think that the Gerber Bushcraft Hatchet is a superior multitool that can not only gather wood for camp but help you start the fire as well.

Read Review: The Best Damn Hatchet in a Long Time: Gerber Bushcraft Hatchet Review

There’s a lot to be said about heritage. There’s even more to be said about 325 years of heritage being baked into a single hatchet. But, with its 325-Year Anniversary Axe ($184), Hults Bruk found a way to pull it off and it’s awesome. Awesome right down to the green and red color schemes, indicating that this hatchet was meant to be admired when not being swung.

The 1.25-pound head has a Yankee pattern and a premium grind. The pattern, coupled with the extra attention paid during the sharpening process, provides an incredibly smooth hit that penetrates both wet and dry wood with ease. This of course is aided by an ergonomic 15” American hickory handle. 

In regards to the red paint on the handle and the green paint on the head, sure it’s pretty to look at, but it also aids in the overall function of this hatchet. The red on the handle provides increased grip, while the green on the head reduces friction. After 325 years of making excellent hatchets and axes, you learn a thing or two.

Out in the field, the Hults Bruk 325-Year Anniversary Axe made quick work of both wet and dry limbs. We carried it all over the Green Mountain National Forest to help clear a couple of old trails as well as prep and split wood for the fire. In the end, we were warm and fed and owe it all to three centuries of determination and knowledge. 

Read Review: Hults Bruk 325-Year Anniversary Axe Review: A Collectible Designed for Abuse

Small but mighty, the Hults Bruk Jonaker ($164) isn’t here to split a cord of wood, but it sure will come in handy when you need it. From clearing brush on the trail to splitting kindling to limbing trees, the Jonaker is the right size to be carried around as a backup cutting tool as well as the only cutting tool you bring along.

Made from 1.5 pounds of hand-forged Swedish steel and featuring a 2.8” bit, the head of the Jonaker has been hand-blackened to help stave off corrosion as well as reduce friction. Additionally, the 9.4” hickory handle has a slight bend to increase the ease of impact as well as overall ergonomics so you don’t tire out too easy.

Compared to other diminutive hatchets like the Gerber Pack Hatchet, the bit profile on the Jonaker has some real chopping power behind it, and most will find it to be a better tool for trips where you can afford a slightly bulkier hatchet.

Earlier in the fall this year, tester Nick LeFort used the Jonaker as a splitting wedge when dropping a larger tree up in Vermont. Based on its smaller size, it also makes for a great hammer for wedge-splitting logs and kindling with plastic wedges. It’s also incredibly easy to carry either in your pack or on your belt.

While likely not the hatchet you’d want to use to split an entire cord of wood, the Gerber Pack Hatchet ($45) makes a compelling case for itself when it comes to light-duty work far from the trailhead.

With a full-tang build, we had no qualms truly swinging this tool right off the bat to test its chops. We were pleased to see that Gerber included finger grooves in the overmolded handle to allow for choking up on the hatchet — something that smaller tools like this excel at. With this, we were able to produce feather sticks with ease.

At 1 pound, 8.5 ounces, this isn’t the heftiest hatchet on our list, but we found it to generate enough swing weight to cleave small limbs and produce kindling for whipping up a quick campfire. The rubber grip felt confidence-inspiring — even for damp hands. This modern tool compares well with the Hults Bruk Jonaker, and while that hatchet is better at splitting and chopping, we found the Gerber excelled at fine work.

We were, unfortunately, let down by the sheath of this hatchet, as it is only a simple fabric design with no embedded plastic lining to ensure the sheath doesn’t degrade over time. The attachment straps were also not the most confidence-inspiring, though they certainly do get the job done. 

Chuck it in your pack and forget about it — until it’s time to build the campfire that is. The Gerber Pack Hatchet is a capable tool in a compact package that’ll make the case for bringing it along almost every time.

Read Review: Gerber ‘Pack Hatchet’ Review: Tackle Tough Tasks for Under $50

The Kershaw Deschutes ($103) almost usurped the Gerber Bushcraft for this year’s Best Modern Hatchet. But the Gerber edged ahead due to its ability to be used as a hammer. That said, if you’re looking for a hatchet with unsurpassed cutting capabilities, the Deschutes might just be the hatchet for you, and for your next adventure.

Made from quarter-inch-thick black-oxide coated 3Cr13, the Deschutes cuts more like a machete than it does like a hatchet which makes it a great choice for limbing fresh, wet wood. 3Cr13 is an affordable stainless steel, commonly found in knives. It has good corrosion resistance and is easy to sharpen. Additionally, the glass-filled nylon handle benefits from its rubber overlays, as they provide an excellent grip.

Aside from being modern, technical, and tactical, the Deschutes also excels in carry. Its innovative sheath, made from the same material as the handle, indexes onto the head of the hatchet, protecting the bit when not in use. It also has an optional carry strap so you can wear the Deschutes across your back like a rifle. 

Additionally, the length-to-weight ratio makes the Kershaw Deschutes a breeze to use over a longer stretch of time. Unlike traditional hatchets that tend to have a heavier head, the Deschutes is a uniform piece of steel and therefore is more balanced like a kukri or a machete.

Few brands enjoy the legacy that Gränsfors Bruk does, where creating fine hand-forged axes has been the bread and butter since 1902. The Wildlife Hatchet ($185) is close to the smallest in the brand’s line-up, but there’s little stopping this hatchet from doing big work, and becoming one of the the best overall in our testing.

When you can count the number of blacksmiths involved with a forge on both hands (plus a few toes), you know you’re getting a well-refined axe head. Each smith even stamps their initials into the head once they’re satisfied with the job, and we were very happy with the grind on this axe, even straight off the shelf.

At 1 pound, 5 ounces, this hatchet is one of the lightest made by Gränsfors Bruk, designed to be a lightweight companion on hikes into the bush. It finds itself amongst the ‘Forest Axes,’ which feature an elongated axe head and a long rounded edge, and are designed to cut across the grain, as opposed to a splitting axe.

Swinging the Wildlife Hatchet, you can tell that a lot of thought went into the balance between the axe head and the handle. We especially appreciated that the handle had been pre-dried prior to having the axe head set, and the linseed oil and beeswax treatment had it wearing into our hands on day one.

A legacy hatchet from a legacy brand; there’s plenty of history to back up the choice of bringing this forest tool along.

Read Review: Gransfors Bruk Wildlife Hatchet: Worth The Hefty Price

Small but effective, the CRKT Chogan Hatchet ($65) is one of the best hatchets you could have around the campground. Both practical and tactical, the Chogan is equally effective in breaking up kindling as it is hammering in tent stakes.

Made from a solid piece of Manganese Phosphate coated 1055 carbon steel and featuring a glass-reinforced nylon (GRN) handle, the Chogan Hatchet can handle your camp tasks in any weather condition, year-round. The GRN handle is resistant to changes in temperatures in weather and absorbs the shock you get from chopping so it doesn’t transfer to your hand and arm.

At 13.19” long and weighing only 1 pound, 5 ounces, the Chogan might not be your first choice when it comes to chopping larger limbs. But when it comes to keeping the fire roaring back at camp, it’ll have no problem splitting those chopped limbs. Suited for both wet or dry wood, this hatchet can easily chop the wet stuff and just as easily split the dry.

If we had to make one suggestion to CRKT, it would be to throw a sheath into the mix to make the Chogan Hatchet easier to carry and access out on the trail. Otherwise, the included rubber cover for the bit will allow you to throw the hatchet in your pack until you get to camp.

Read Review: Small but Mighty, This Tomahawk Can Hack It: CRKT Chogan Hatchet Review

If you are in the market for an American-made hatchet for smaller jobs around camp or the garden, consider the Estwing Sportsman’s Axe ($51-68). Coming in both 12- and 14-inch varieties — both lightweight — this is a great hatchet to have around if you don’t plan on putting it through consistently heavy use.

The head and handle of this axe are forged in one piece. Given this unique construction, the Sportsman is exceedingly comfortable to handle and provides solid balance when in use. The leather grip is both beautiful to look at and functional to use.

The 2.75-inch (3.75-inch on the 14” model) cutting edge is plenty to handle the lighter use tasks for which it was designed — think chopping green wood for shelters or woodworking, splitting small pieces of deadwood, and stripping bark.

While not the most heavy-duty axe on our list, it is a solid hatchet option for lighter projects at home and the occasional camping trip.

When it comes to purchasing tools, the most beautiful option might not be the most functional. Still, it’s hard not to acknowledge the classic good looks of the Adler Rheinland Hatchet ($89). Thankfully, this camping hatchet boasts incredible durability and ease of use as well.

While a bit more expensive than some competitors, the Adler Rheinland Hatchet backs up its price point in both function and fashion. The wooden handle was designed with ergonomics in mind, making it comfortable and safe to hold and use.

The axe head itself is a large curved blade, allowing users to maximize contact points on the logs they are splitting. The sharp and strong steel blade, in conjunction with the incredibly well-crafted wooden handle, will eliminate any concerns about strength and durability after you swing it for the first time.

As a bonus, the wood waste created from manufacturing is used to generate energy that helps run the factory — making Adler an environmentally friendly choice. For quality construction and ergonomics, the Adler Rheinland is one of the best camping hatchets for self-sufficient outdoor applications.

It’s hard to argue with a company that has been hand-forging steel in the same Swedish foundry since the late 17th century. And that’s why the Hults Bruk Almike ($199) makes our list as one of the best camping hatchets of 2024.

The hand-ground axe head on the Hults Bruk Almike is struck multiple times throughout the process to increase the final product’s density and durability. Just one glance at the axe head will make you realize just how reliable this blade truly is.

When combined with the curved hickory handle, you will be hard-pressed to find a camping hatchet more suited for chopping small trees and splitting wood around the fire. Not only is the handle comfortable to hold, but the curvature and overall shape are also hard to beat in terms of elegant design.

The Hults Bruk Almike is smooth and sleek, and it’s accompanied by a beautifully crafted leather sheath to further the aesthetic appeal of this highly functional bushcraft tool.

Read Review: Superior Hatchet: Hults Bruk ‘Almike’ Review