A scythe is a very common tool in Romania. If you don’t know what a scythe is have a look:
It can be, as aptly demonstrated in the video, a very useful tool. Actually it can be much more useful then shown in the video. I had the pleasure of watching someone who was really handy with it for a few months. Most people use it kind of clumsily … kind of like in the video above … it really comes into play when you learn to … for lack of a better word … dance with it … it gets much more swing with much less effort … but it takes getting used to. If I had to describe it (and I haven’t had much practice yet), you stand in a somewhat sumo-wrestler kind of stance, firmly grounded and swing the blade without reaching out or stretching forward. The arms need to be loose and most of the energy comes from a twisting motion in the hips. You swing and step forward (kind of an awkward elephant-ish step when your feet are spread apart for a good stance).
There are, however a few drawbacks to it. One, that you can get used to as it becomes part of the work, is the frequent sharpening. You really do need to sharpen it often. The other, not mentioned in the video, and that is more difficult to get used to, is the quality of what it is you are cutting. The scythe works great on a picturesque pasture of grass … but that is often not the case. When there are beefier plants to cut down (neglected weeds) it becomes much less fluent and (to me anyways) much less pleasant to use (there have been cases where I wished I had a power trimmer).
Also we have not yet been able to put together a good working scythe: a good blade, good wooden handle (apparently called a snath), a good mounting (which holds it firmly in place and can be dismounted easily). Cheap stuff is easy to find, quality isn’t. I didn’t know about an additional process called peening … a more thorough process of sharpening which I’ve never done nor witnessed … until I saw this followup video:
In the video there is a demonstratin of what looks like a really useful “peening anvil” and I searched for it. I found it, together with loads of what seems like quality scythe-stuff manufactured in Austria … which is here in Europe, even close by … which means we may be able to get our hands on it here in Romania (it bugs me that we can’t find quality tools, that are so common, made here in Romania).
Update: If you follow the above link to the Austrian manufacturer you will find, in the top right corner a video with a demonstration of efficient body movement when working with a scythe!