I'll pretty much just second what everyone else has said.

I have a couple of the Gerber/Fiskars "Sport" Axes, a Gransfors Wildlife (the new handle style) and Gransfors Mini, a Vaughn sub-zero (that makes the Gransfors Mini look heavy and thick), some no-name axe from Russia that was a gift, a couple from hardware stores, a whole lot of tomahawks, some of them expensive and hand-forged, and an old Estwing hatchet... somewhere.

I had read some on-line conversations about Norlund hatchets, and finally saw a two in person for the first time just a couple of days ago. Maybe they used to be better, but these were junk. Poor, squared-off, rough-varnished handles, one had the head misaligned a lot. Thick bits, poor hickory. Very disappointing. They were on sale for $14.95, and I didn't see any takers.

I don't like the Estwing much. It's heavy for it's size, the varnish on the leather-disk handle cracked and peeled quickly leaving it unprotected, and the handle is very uncomfortable to "choke up" on for fine-control tasks. It may be true that the steel-shank handle can't break, but IMHO, if you use and carry it enough, you sort of wish it would.

The Gransfors Mini and Vaughn sub-zero are great little hatchets for light use or emergency use; they're just the thing to pack when you don't expect to really need one and a heavier hatchet would get left at home. Convenience and peace of mind for very little weight. For heavy use, if you had a choice, you'd pick something larger, but they do amazingly well for their tiny size. Be aware how very small they are before ordering one, though. A lot of people are surprised when they hold it for the first time- it feels like a toy at first.

If I had to pick a single do-it-all hatchet, it would be the Gransfors Wildlife. It's about the largest I'd want to carry all day on foot... I don't ride horseback much, or canoe, so if I'm not on foot, then I'm generally not far from the car, and so I have a stove and a lot of other gear- don't need an axe at all. That's just me.

The real problem with Gransfors is that, once you get used to one, all the others don't seem very good any more.