Rob and I first bought a Cocotap when the local camping shop just got them in. That must be about 6 or more years ago, and it still looks as good as it did the day we bought it: no tarnishing, sharp as ever, and has since become one of our best buys ever.
When we are sailing, we like to drink coconut water when we can get it – and to use other parts of the coconut and the palm as well (I do some weaving). Cocotap has been such a wonderful find for us, and we are constantly being asked by friends if they can borrow it for a day or two. We are always nervous it won’t come back, and tell them to buy their own, but, yes we have loaned it out, and it has literally opened hundreds and hundreds of nuts since we bought it. I make a naturally effervescent beverage from coconut water and tibicos culture (water kefir grains), so we sometimes open three or four nuts a day just for ourselves. The Cocotap has also gone ashore for beach parties with us, where it has been used over the course of the parties to open many drinking nuts (when there has been the addition of some rum on occasion!).
We feel that Cocotap paid for itself in the first couple of uses, and we do not hesitate to recommend it to our friends and family. We have also just bought a coconut noodler – and can’t wait to try it out!
best wishes
Gay and Rob McDonald
SY Dancing Dolphin
I purchased a Cocotap almost 2 years ago and where I’ve now tapped something like 350 nuts with it. The Cocotap has been an invaluable tool especially with young coconuts which I tap purely for the coconut water. I’ve also used it with mature nuts albeit where I’ve had to belt it with a hammer to properly pierce the endocarp (internal shell) which hardens as the coconut matures. The cocotap seems to be indestructible as it’s still just like brand new; once or twice I’ve sharpened the point with a sharpening stone and which makes the job of tapping a coconut just that little bit easier. I’m very happy with my purchase and I recommend the cocotap to anyone who likes the real thing, that is to say anyone who likes their coconut water directly from a fresh coconut. Derek, Townsville.
So, I’ve been in Tahiti now for 8 weeks, and the cocotap has been awesome. Very sturdy. I have a problem, though. It performed well on most coconuts until I took it to the island of Huahine. The coconuts there are very tough. We also noticed that when turning the cocotap upside down, it was easier to tap it in when folded in the T position. When straight, it kept wanting to fold whenever it was tapped while upside down. One other thing, those Huahine coconuts were so tough that now I have a piece of husk lodged in the cocotap that the cleaning tool can’t dislodge. I’ve been able to use a knife and other small tools to scrape at the ends of the husk that were sticking out of the cocotap, but now that that’s done, I can’t seem to push out the rest. Any thoughts?
I will be leaving this one here in Tahiti since my host loved it so much and plan to order more for my upcoming visit to Guam.
Thanks for any tips.
Sheryl
