Tools are a miscellaneous type of equippable item, but some of the ones with more functionality are locked to finding them in chests, which can make them an utter pain to find, especially if you are particularly unlucky. I have a solution to that.
Add a Shopkeeper that sells chest-exclusive tools
The idea is basic, and their stock would be simple as well. Early settlements in the Bronze Sea (Redwake, Frostmill), should carry the Notebook, Camp Marker, and Wooden Shovel. More mid-game settlements could carry the former two, Bronze/Silver Shovels, Empty Bottles, and Torches. By the end of the Bronze Sea’s story islands, Tool shops should carry Waist Lanterns, along with Golden/Platinum Shovels, as well.
As their own stands (i.e. like in Ravenna or on Clan-owned Islands), they could have a black roof, with some crates and shovels on display.
Reason to add/change
The main reason I thought of this was because of Notebooks being required to upgrade multiple types of deckhands, such as Enchanter and Navigator. For something marked as a “Common” tool, they are stupidly hard to find, which makes upgrading the Deckhands mentioned a lot more tedious than it has any right being.
Of course, with Notes now giving Galleons based on their appraisals, this might prove to be exploitable, but my solution to that is to just make the Notebooks the most expensive item in the shop, maybe around 1,000 Galleons. Yes, it’s ludicrous for something that’s just about worthless outside of deckhand upgrades, but it could fix a primary issue with making them purchaseable.