Fiskars U14 Hatchet

The Fiskars Ultra Universal Hatchet U14 is a 14-inch hatchet for kindling and small camp wood. It is new enough that the record on it fits on one page, and this page says where that record runs out.

Every kitchen has a drawer that holds everything: dead batteries, birthday candles, a key to nothing. Somebody in the family always knows exactly what is in it. The U14 has a drawer of its own, inside the handle, and it comes empty.

What Fiskars built into 14 inches

Fiskars builds the Fiskars Ultra Universal Hatchet U14 with a double-hardened forged head, ground to what it calls a RazorEdge and plated with ToughCoat. The head sits on a FiberComp composite shaft with overstrike protection and a SoftGrip handle, and a protective sheath comes in the box. Fiskars describes it for kindling and outdoor wood preparation.

It is about 14 inches long. Lowe’s lists it at 1.6 lb, and an owner who has both the U14 and the X14, possibly the European versions, puts each at 740 grams, which is about 1.6 lb as well.

A buyer on Home Depot’s question page asked what makes the U14 so expensive, and the Fiskars account answered. It named the ToughCoat plating, which it says helps reduce friction and resist wear, an insert-molded connection between head and shaft, and a thicker head profile. That is the maker making its case for the price, not a measurement. Its last line is still the one a camper should read before ordering:

Combined with a thicker head profile, it’s built for tougher, more demanding utility work rather than lightweight carry. (Fiskars, answering a buyer on Home Depot’s question page)

Fiskars built the U14 for work, not for a light pack, and says so. It belongs in the camp box in the trunk more than on a backpack.

The U14 against the X14

Two of the three buyer questions in our sources come back to the older Fiskars X14. One r/Bushcraft buyer asked whether the U14 was worth paying a premium for over it. No Fiskars answer to that question appears in them; its own case for the U14 is the build above: the plating, the molded joint between head and shaft, the thicker head.

An owner who has both sees less of a difference. In their words there is practically no difference in performance; the looks, the X14’s somewhat softer orange grip and the price set the two apart. They still like the U14’s looks and its grippy handle. That thread uses the European name for the hatchet, U14 X-Series Ultra, so this owner may have the European version.

So one owner who has both puts most of the difference in the looks and the grip, and the rest in the price.

Nobody else in that thread settled it. One reply pointed to a video that described a slightly lighter hatchet, a different blade shape and a new curved design, and the person who asked believed the video was about the X series, not the Ultra. Another buyer asked whether the U14’s handle has any structural improvement, and the one reply had never figured it out. One commenter was blunter:

Ultra-useless “cool” design without any function, but nice excuse to charge more. (r/Bushcraft commenter)

If you already own an X14 that works, nothing in our sources says you need a U14. If you own neither, the case for the U14 is the construction Fiskars describes, not a difference anyone has measured. The owner of both leaves you three things to choose on: the price on the day you order, the looks, and the grip.

The first reports are short

Men’s Journal, trying the Ultra axes on light yard work, found that “the weighting feels spot-on”. The r/Bushcraft owner who had just bought one says it chops like a champ so far.

The only complaint about the edge in our sources comes from one review on Home Depot’s U14 page, and that review was collected as part of a promotion. After one light job trimming growth on a tree stump, with no rocks, dirt or ground strikes, the reviewer found a few nicks in the edge, “nothing terrible”, and had hoped the stay-sharp marketing would hold up.

None of the sources on this page says how sharp it arrives, and none has years of use behind it. The early praise is real. The early record is short.

So check the edge the day the box comes, while the kindling is still a plan. With kids around the fire ring, put the edge back in its sheath whenever the hatchet is not in your hand.

The drawer in the handle comes empty

The owner who started the hollow-handle thread on r/Bushcraft wanted to fill it and found little room: the handle is curved, the hollow part is only about 8 inches deep, and a Work Sharp plate they looked at is too wide to go in. Buy the U14 for the head and the low-care handle, not for the space inside it.

The composite handle is also why it asks so little of you. There is no wood to look after, and a hickory handle comes with exactly that chore. The trade comes later: Men’s Journal notes that a composite handle lacks the easy replacement of hickory.

Make sure it is the U14

Fiskars sells several small axes with close names. The larger U32 is in the same Ultra line and is a different tool. The older Fiskars X7 and X14 are different hatchets too. European shops list a U14 under its European name, U14 X-Series Ultra, and another item number; this page and its button are about the US model.

Home Depot and Lowe’s list it as model 1087039, and Amazon’s page gives the same number as the manufacturer part number. Amazon also shows 374500 in its model number field, and Fiskars’ own US page prints neither number. Before you order, check that the name says Ultra and U14.

Straight from the threads

Who should pick something else

If you want a traditional wooden handle, the Gränsfors Bruk Wildlife Hatchet 415 is hickory with a leather sheath, and the Hults Bruk Hultån Hatchet is hickory too, for chopping more than packing small.

If you want no head-to-handle joint at all, the Estwing Sportsman’s Axe E14A is one piece of forged steel.

If your firewood comes as big rounds, a small hatchet is the wrong tool, and a bigger axe is the right one. And if there is already an X14 in the garage that works, keep it.

Next to the other three

In our camping hatchet guide, the U14 comes first among four small hatchets for its low-care handle, not for years of proof. The guide’s comparison table lines up length, weight and sheath with the source of every number.

So the trade is this: no wood to look after and a sheath in the box, against a short record and an older X14 that one owner of both finds practically the same.

The handle will stay empty. The kindling box will not.

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