0311, all the cordage is for making traps and snares, plenty to eat. A fish spear requires there to be water nearby that has fish and requires that you are holding the spear actively trying to spear a fish. This means you cannot do two things at once, traps and snares work for you while you are making shelter, resting, making a ground signal such as an arrow, setting other traps, making a fire, cooking, repairing clothing, building improvised tools etc. Also you can make a fish spear with all sorts of available materials. A multi tool has so many useful things, especially when in a survival situation. About "the blade is longer & thus will stay sharp longer than an axe" well a properly ground axe will outlast any conventional knife or machete, even if said knife/machete is a quality piece and not some POS from an army/navy surplus place. Knives have thinner blades with finer ground edges, this is because their focus in most instances is sharpness, not edge toughness. An axe does not need to be shaving sharp to do it's job well, you will dull a knife very quickly using it as an axe. Using an axe as an axe you will have that axe for a long long time.

If you want to go digging holes for any reason be it a solar still, latrine, cooking hole or whatever you can make a dig stick. Use the things around you, use the tools you have to the greatest effeciency, don't kill a knife digging. Use a dead branch or break one off, cut a rough spike on one end and you have a dig stick, if it breaks or otherwise becomes useless you haven't lost anything, you can make another. You will only have your one knife or multi tool whathaveyou in the wild, use your brain to solve problems. As far as cutting coconuts, I have done this myself several times, the ones you might find in the real world are a LOT tougher than something you get at a supermarket. A knife or even a small axe is next to useless for opening a coconut. I hate siting a film but do like Hanks did in Castaway, wedge the nut in something sturdy (dig a shallow hole, put a stone at the bottom and the coconut ontop of the stone) then bash the nut with something heavy. The point is to not damage those ever priceless tools any more than you have to.


-Olaf