Watch out, you idiot, a coconut

Suppose you’ve just been on a tropical island, or you mostly look at pictures of a tropical island, and you’re really craving coconut. How do you crack those things open without smashing your table/hand/floor to pieces?

In the film Cast Away, there’s the famous scene in which the lead character Tom Hanks finally finds a coconut and tries to smash it open with a rock. What do you think? Rock broken. Coconuts have a hard shell—that’s an understatement. And yet, they can be cracked open.

First things first

First, you need to make three holes in the coconut. Using a hammer and a screwdriver (and some care), knock them open so the coconut water can drain out. You obviously don’t want a watery mess.

Heavy artillery

A hammer and a screwdriver are heavy artillery, yes. Apparently, a rock isn’t heavy-duty enough. You can put the screwdriver away now. Use the hammer to tap all around the coconut, in a circle, until you see a crack appear. Eventually, the nut should split open along that line with one final blow.