{"id":105337,"date":"2025-08-03T07:27:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=105337"},"modified":"2025-08-03T08:09:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:09:51","slug":"how-to-open-a-coconut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/","title":{"rendered":"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world \u2014 having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire<\/a>, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we\u2019ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one’s culinary pursuits. In the wild, they’re one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods. Coconut meat is a great source of fat, carbohydrates, and fiber. And there\u2019s a good reason coconut water is so readily available at stores these days: it\u2019s loaded with minerals, electrolytes, natural sugars, and vitamins. Even when you\u2019re done eating and drinking everything the coconut has to offer, the shell is useful as a bowl or cup.<\/p>\n

But you won\u2019t reap any of these benefits if you don\u2019t know how to open one up.  <\/p>\n

Cracking open a coconut takes some practice, but there are several tricks to make it a bit easier. Firstly, you’ll have to get through the husk. Store-bought coconuts have this removed already, but in the wild and in a survival situation, you’ll have to de-husk it yourself. You’ll do this by first nestling the coconut between some rocks for stability, with its pointier end facing up. Then, find the largest rock you can hoist, lift it 4-5 feet above the coconut, and drop\/throw it onto the coconut. After a few drops, the husk’s fibers will begin to soften and splits will open up in it. Flip the coconut over so that the blunter end is facing up, give it another hit or two with the rock, and you should be able to peel away the husk (which doubles as great tinder for making a fire!).  <\/p>\n

Before getting started with cracking the shell and getting to the goods inside, brush up on your coconut anatomy. At the top of the coconut is the “face”: three holes grouped tightly together that resemble eyes and a mouth. These holes represent weak points that you can exploit to poke a hole in the coconut and extract the water. If you imagine the face is the north pole, and the opposite side is the south pole, it\u2019s easy to picture the coconut\u2019s equator. The equator is another weak point, and you can use it to crack up a coconut like a pro, with or without tools. <\/p>\n

Illustrated by Ted Slampyak<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world \u2014 having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we\u2019ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":105409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,277,42259,229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-outdoor-survival","category-skills","category-visual-guides"],"featured_image_urls":{"aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut-364x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut-320x211.png"},"yoast_head":"\nOpening a Coconut in the Wild With or Without Tools | Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools) | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"364\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Hutchison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patrick Hutchison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Patrick Hutchison\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/97459a48844ad384dc13b194ddd92272\"},\"headline\":\"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\"},\"wordCount\":445,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Outdoor\/Survival\",\"Skills\",\"Visual Guides\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\",\"name\":\"Opening a Coconut in the Wild With or Without Tools | Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png\",\"width\":364,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"A drawing of a person hammering a coconut open.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men's Interest and Lifestyle\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Art of Manliness\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg\",\"width\":432,\"height\":432,\"caption\":\"Art of Manliness\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/artofmanliness\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/artofmanliness\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/artofmanliness\/\",\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/artofmanliness\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/97459a48844ad384dc13b194ddd92272\",\"name\":\"Patrick Hutchison\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/author\/patrick\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Opening a Coconut in the Wild With or Without Tools | Art of Manliness","description":"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools) | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":364,"height":240,"url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Patrick Hutchison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Patrick Hutchison","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/"},"author":{"name":"Patrick Hutchison","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/97459a48844ad384dc13b194ddd92272"},"headline":"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools)","datePublished":"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/"},"wordCount":445,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png","articleSection":["Featured","Outdoor\/Survival","Skills","Visual Guides"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/","name":"Opening a Coconut in the Wild With or Without Tools | Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png","datePublished":"2025-08-03T12:27:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-03T13:09:51+00:00","description":"In the kitchen, fresh coconuts can add great flavor to one's culinary pursuits. In the wild, they're one of nature\u2019s most perfect survival foods.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/07\/coconut.png","width":364,"height":240,"caption":"A drawing of a person hammering a coconut open."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/how-to-open-a-coconut\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Skill of the Week: Open a Coconut (With or Without Tools)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men's Interest and Lifestyle","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization","name":"Art of Manliness","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/01\/AoM_Logo_Full_Color_Web-copy.jpg","width":432,"height":432,"caption":"Art of Manliness"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","https:\/\/x.com\/artofmanliness","http:\/\/instagram.com\/artofmanliness","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/artofmanliness\/","http:\/\/youtube.com\/artofmanliness"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/97459a48844ad384dc13b194ddd92272","name":"Patrick Hutchison","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/author\/patrick\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}