Greetings Ladies and Gents, I hope I find you all well.
Thoughts;

There are situations where a large knife is useful.
Would a walking stick/staff have been of use?
Re. holes, urban flooding, man hole covers blown off due to flood. If you fall into one of these, chances are you won't survive. Just as we use our sticks in the woods to aide balance,and check a questionable area prior to stepping, around water/floods I think the same applies. Regards, Jim