Consumer Reports

The Fiskars X11 Splitting Axe is a stellar camping axe. Impeccably balanced and compact enough for most adults to use with one hand, it's great for small jobs like splitting kindling or limbing trees. It also excels at bucking up larger logs and, living up to its name, splitting firewood. This last task is the most impressive and rare among camping axes. The sharp blade widens into a wedge with a pronounced curve on the axe's cheek. Instead of biting into a round of wood, it also forces the grain apart for an efficient split. Fiskars claims that the geometry, specifically the concave cheek, makes it easier to pull back out of the wood. We have to agree. The low friction coating doesn't hurt. The orange end of the handle is hollow to absorb the shock of a blow. We feel like it works well, keeping our hands and forearms fresh. We also appreciate that the sheath doubles as a handle for longer walks from camp. 
Made in Finland, the X11's construction seems very solid. The molded head is robust, and we don't have any durability concerns for the axe itself. There is a spinning lock on the plastic sheath that seems like a possible weak point. Time will tell how long it lasts. At 17.5" long and 2.4 pounds, the X11 is larger and heavier than many other options. That gives you more leverage and power, though, which works well for splitting firewood. Its balance also keeps it feeling light in hand. If you're willing to haul that extra weight, this axe works at home and camp flawlessly. It offers great value, and its length, balance, and effective blade shape combine to make quick work of most tasks.

OutdoorGearLab

The Fiskars X11 17-Inch is a stellar camping axe. Impeccably balanced and compact enough for most adults to use with one hand, it's great for small jobs like splitting kindling or limbing trees. It also excels at bucking up larger logs and, living up to its name, splitting firewood. This last task is the most impressive and rare among camping axes. The sharp blade widens into a wedge with a pronounced curve on the axe's cheek. Instead of biting into a round of wood, it also forces the grain apart for an efficient split. Fiskars claims that the geometry, specifically the concave cheek, makes it easier to pull back out of the wood. We have to agree. The low friction coating doesn't hurt. The orange end of the handle is hollow to absorb the shock of a blow. We feel like it works well, keeping our hands and forearms fresh. We also appreciate that the sheath doubles as a handle for longer walks from camp. 
Made in Finland, the X11's construction seems very solid. The molded head is robust, and we don't have any durability concerns for the axe itself. There is a spinning lock on the plastic sheath that seems like a possible weak point. Time will tell how long it lasts. At 17.5" long and 2.4 pounds, the X11 is larger and heavier than many other options. That gives you more leverage and power, though, which works well for splitting firewood. Its balance also keeps it feeling light in hand. If you're willing to haul that extra weight, this axe works at home and camp flawlessly. It offers great value, and its length, balance, and effective blade shape combine to make quick work of most tasks.

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The Gerber 14-inch Freescape Hatchet offers excellent performance in a robust yet compact package. It's made in Finland by Fiskars and branded for Gerber, so it's very similar to the other two Fiskars options in the test. Its molded head, vibration-damping hollow handle, and wedged steel blade make for a comfortable and efficient tool. It also has the same plastic sheath with a carrying handle as the Fiskars X11, making it convenient to grab and go. It is the smallest of the Fiskars and so the easiest to wield one-handed. For that reason, we choose it most often for light-duty jobs like cutting down invasive autumn olive shoots and chopping kindling. The friction-reducing coating on the blade helps you along.
With its wedge-shaped head, it's excellent at splitting off small pieces of wood but starts to suffer if you need to split rounds or full-sized firewood. It's just too small to be effective at that scale. It doesn't have the convex cheeks that make it easier to pull the other two Fiskars options out of the wood between strikes, either. You can use it to chop logs in half. It just takes more time and patience. It is more expensive than we'd like, especially since Fiskars has a very similar option available on their website for less. If you want an axe that can do it all but excels at light-duty tasks, we can't argue with the Freescape's performance. 

The Gerber 14-Inch Freescape offers excellent performance in a robust yet compact package. It's made in Finland by Fiskars and branded for Gerber, so it's very similar to the other two Fiskars options in the test. Its molded head, vibration-damping hollow handle, and wedged steel blade make for a comfortable and efficient tool. It also has the same plastic sheath with a carrying handle as the Fiskars X11, making it convenient to grab and go. It is the smallest of the Fiskars and so the easiest to wield one-handed. For that reason, we choose it most often for light-duty jobs like cutting down invasive autumn olive shoots and chopping kindling. The friction-reducing coating on the blade helps you along.
With its wedge-shaped head, it's excellent at splitting off small pieces of wood but starts to suffer if you need to split rounds or full-sized firewood. It's just too small to be effective at that scale. It doesn't have the convex cheeks that make it easier to pull the other two Fiskars options out of the wood between strikes, either. You can use it to chop logs in half. It just takes more time and patience. It is more expensive than we'd like, especially since Fiskars has a very similar option available on their website for less. If you want an axe that can do it all but excels at light-duty tasks, we can't argue with the Freescape's performance. 

Hatchet Comparison