This is a question about taking certain feats with a Variant Human barb or just sticking with a Half-orc.

I am making a barb but i am not allowed the obvious feats GWM or PAM and the first two ASL (Lvl 4 & 8) are attributes only. Also No multi-classing allowed. 

So i came up with two ideas as to what feats make it better at tanking.

Feat Fighter Initiate: Dueling (Sword & board.)

This will make the avg. damage the same as using a great axe. (1d8+4 v 1d12+2) but with the advantage of using a shield. Obviously the damage gap between the axe and the sword when rolling crits are enormous. The axe being the better choice. But i don’t rely or put my trust on crits even with Reckless Attacks. Feel free to tell me i'm wrong here and crits happen more often. 

Or the Feat Tough

Hit points are always reliable for a tank and unlike AC it gives you a better chance to survive against enemy crits.

Or should i just toss the idea of feats out the window and play a Half-orc.

Barbarian with Tough is very good, because rage doubles the HP you get.

Also, I'm pretty sure Fighting Initiate feat is pretty weak in terms of power comparisons. Though for you, since multiclass is unavailable, you might want to consider it. Overall, I'd choose Tough if I were you.