The End of Cheap Oil and The Rise of the Scythe

[MrTyronePimp]

its called evolution, an u my dear will soon be extinct

[944own]

I feel sorry for these poor people for God's sake get a brush cutter and some shoes.

[kathynsam123]

she awesome she cant put men to shame

[hgdge]

why isnt she using the lawnmower its so much faster

[SnojetSteve]

Do you know anyone who makes good scythe handles. I live in NS near the New Brunswick border and I think it is better tool than a gas weed whacker in alot of ways. Mine is over 130 years old now but I broke the shaft down near the blade. I could make one since I build small boats but someone who already makes the handles would be better.

[dodgecowboy65]

I hope to be able to operate mine as well as she does hers, minus the twirls and loops over the head, lol

[mary047photoblue]

Can she come over and cut my 10 acres ?

[acompanyofwolves]

why is this turning me on?

[darmokandgalad]

Oh god I love the Gandhi quotation and the Bob Dylan music and the scythe. . . this guy is reading my mind. Where is this farm? Looks like maybe Montana?

[kaivido]

@darmokandgalad

This video was shot in Lower Kintore, NB, Canada

[yonny1954]

you know just listening to her working would have been music enough

[player3230]

not so easy as it seems ...

[Fektthis]

Reason for no oil - Girl wasting it setting her scythe on fire to play with it at night. You reap what you sow girl.

[TheArmourBearer1]

Where can you find girls like this?Theres almost none left

[SirJosephOxford]

Everything about this video is awesome.

[MrThahey]

as a blacksmith, I would not recommend setting fire to a scythe blade, it will cause the temper of the blade to change, and require it to be heat treated again, other than that great video

[99wit99]

bet shes got a strong hook

[Ryannn93]

I love a girl who knows how to use a scythe

[gaiablue24]

umm i think im in love

[MrBagnis]

I want to marry this cute girl Where does she live?

[Mueiwark]

Learning to scythe is one thing, learning to sharpen it is another! Must find a good teacher someday..

[gezelligtexas]

I'm not sure what I've got, but it's similar to this. It's got a double-sided serated edge at the end of a short pole. You swing it back and forth, and it cuts your grass that way. It only costs $15 at Home Depot BTW.

The scythe actually looks easier though. She's mowing through that stuff with one cut, while it takes a couple with my contraption. Anyone know what it's called?

[guaigean]

@gezelligtexas

You may be thinking of a "grass whip".

[IchLiebeDichDoll]

@gezelligtexas You've got a grass whip. Good for small pieces of overgrown weeds, but not so great for a field!

[darmokandgalad]

@gezelligtexas

I think I've got the same thing and I don't know what it's called either! It's like a metal semi cirlce with teeth running through the diameter right?

[dudeurgonna]

so thats how they make crop circles.

[amishcar]

Very Very cool video. I was thinking of buying a Scythe from Lehmans & this video has pushed me more in that direction. That girl rocks with a Scythe. Great start & finish.

[jf99151]

I bet she's got killer obliques and abs . I'm impressed.

[PaulUmbarger]

YouTube! you Suck! Why take the audio out of a video and leave it up? What kind of an asshole business plan is it to ruin one vid with commercials and the others with killing the audio? If this keeps up, I'm going to cancel my account here.

[IonOtter]

Yo, dude! Youtube killed the audio on your video! You'll have to fix it or use something else, I guess.

[davejohnsonnola]

As an opening, we chose the line Bob Dylan put to music in 1962, "How many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn't see?" The point we are making is that for all these years much of humanity has been "asleep"; intentionally or otherwise we have refused to read the signs, to see the unfolding of the story in which one species of living beings -- Homo sapiens -- takes more than it needs, thereby depriving the rest of the living world of its share...

[MsTansy]

Superwoman!!!!!

[mopbrothers]

What is a "doable"size of land for one person?  A couple of acres?

[JonathanZeidman]

@mopbrothers i dunno if kai is responding, but if he hasn't, in "theory", one could scythe just under an acre in a long, ideal day. practically speaking, half that would still be a long day. if you're working alone i'd account for at least 5-6 days an acre per cut, but ask me again next year :)

[ggmorvaj]

I don't mean to be rude, but hereabouts, even the Amish use horsepower to harvest hay & grain. Better to utilize the ultimate cheap labor(non human). Just because the oil runs out, doesn't mean we'll run out of human ingenuity. We'll still be looking for the most efficient way to do farm work .And that's not like peasants(with a scythe).

[kervennic]

If all ladies could do the same, the world would be a great place to live in.

[OSXlover]

And what about men? Sit at home and drink beer? Get off your lazy bum and start working! ;-)

[rendac]

Yeeah, cool! Keep up the hand work!!

[Howtoisfun]

The rhythm is kinda hypnotizing...

[gaaraisbest]

The beginning was really scary. A little girl in a white robe, at night, swinging around a flaming scythe. KKK/horror movie material.

[wkwickham08]

lol - hippies crack me up

[guyglowmore1]

inspiring

[macman851]

Geeze, this video is about as boring as watching the grass grow!

At that pace it'll take a couple of days to finish my yard.

I have an electric weed eater that would get that patch there done in a couple of hours.

[fairlyNormalGuy]

I like the idea of humans being able to survive and live off the land without relying on oil. Agriculture is the foundation of civilization since it provides one of the real necessities of life. Unfortunately I find this method a little intimidating since I have chronic pain in my right shoulder. It is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

[mannytwoshoes]

I'm going to try it with pain (that appears to be chronic) in my left hip - i'll let you know how it comes out. I'm thinking lots of fresh spring water and the exercise will improve the pain. Work and fresh air.

[bluedragoni]

im sorry you think that - don't say that you have to live with that pain. In my business I have seen many people with severe injuries go through progressive therapy and in time things will change powerfully so!

[Masterzec]

thats amazing... i want to try :)

[sparklingdark]

beautiful. looks like great exercise too.

[RainMan34]

Wow, interesting. You appear to be very skilled.

[BlueOx2277]

I want to marry this girl...

[bluemoondiadochi]

that young lady knows what she's doing. nice

[johntaka]

can you make crop circle with scythe ?

[the1of0]

Maybe a "circle" but not complex shapes with intricate details.

[danouttatown]

that was beautiful, just the rhythm of the movement of the scythe. it was really cool. thanks.

[Solechnaya]

tells me to put my hands on the vehicle. I asked him why. He said I was carrying "a dangerous weapon" and that I may be out to kill someone. I calmly tried to eplain that I was just cutting out some barley and wheat from a friends fields. He told me to shut up and patted me down.

Sad.

Sad that a tool of agriculture must be mistaken for a weapon.

[Solechnaya]

One night I was driving home from the wheat fields after gathering some to make bread, my sickle in the back of the vehicle, I was pulled over by the popo. It was just one of their routine checks to find drunk drivers and such.

He asked if he could look in the vehicle. I didn't have a problem with it, so I said "sure.". He opens the trunk and finds the sickle on top of the wheat. Instantly, he stomps over to me and...

[Solechnaya]

So is a sickle. But it doesn't cut as much at a time.

[Eldritchard]

Shes got good action with that sythe, takes me half an hour to get into the swing............

[Punt66]

Its a an artform of hard work to be admired. However it could never replace modern equipment unless we all live on our own land. Will not work for commercial farming.

[xcephasx]

You are a Goddess.

[nielsaamand]

The scythe is for workers who knows, that work could be done in ballance with life is giving and taking. Work make man eat, and food make man work. Isn´t all what life´s about.

Why´s the scythe allways a symbol of death?

Please, someone must write to the Pope and make a complaint. Ask him to make a religious sign with an angel with a scythe -it´brings life. Well, it must be an easy job - she´s allready working in this video!

Lots of hugs to the Vidos for this event - and lots more.

Niels DK

[nielsaamand]

When world is out of oil, and climate seemes to boil, scythers will be the ones, to make food out of soil!

[RockTheOcean4me]

@nielsaamand

Beautiful

[GuyInvincible111]

To get enough labourers from the city at harvest time would require buses that also burn oil. Harvesting is only one part of farming; planting seed requires more skill. A seed drill will always plant more efficiently than human hands.

[vaultcracker1]

Truly a thing of beauty for sure.

But why is she bootless? Bare feet? This is unsafe.

[Solechnaya]

What makes you think it's insafe?

[JonathanZeidman]

@vaultcracker1 it's perfectly safe. if you ever hold a scythe you will understand it's impossible to swing it and hit yourself.

[SteveSmith26]

This is almost as fast as a weed-eater!

[ladylejean215]

Yeah, this chick rocks, esp. when she's spinning the glowing scythe. She's a Goddess.

[curiousjoe2007]

this make a girl fit and a man strong. If half of the world populations have to do such a task at least twice per week, there will be no overweighted big gut people around other than genetically born.

[lucfreder]

I can't imagine that obesity is genetic, although I'm sure it has a genetic component, a predisposition to store more energy than one uses. A gene that causes one to be obese regardless of circumstance would have disappeared long ago, because during a famine, anyone with that gene would sacrifice the energy required for survival in order to maintain weight. If everyone were required to physically grow his or her own food, I have very little doubt obesity would become a thing of the past.

[bridge579]

I cannot express what a blessing it is to find your videos! We are a small community of twenty, and I know that if I can learn the scythe, I can teach others and we will never need to use oil for our hay again! Thank you, and blessing upon you for your dedication.

[moredoublebass]

Initially, I thought watching 8 minutes of a barefooted girl swinging a scythe would be unbearable, but this video was awesome. Simply mesmerizing. And props to her for spinning it around. That was cool.

[ckc232]

Beautiful video.

[Atemporal]

Might sound dumb, but never before I've seen someone using the scythe...well as a farm tool at least.

[zo1dberg]

Nice video, but a ridiculous statement - but hey, if this form of Armageddon gets your rocks off, then who am i to prevent you from achieving it?

Then again, it doesn't really matter if it's a lawn mower that cuts the grass, or a child labourer. Doesn't bother me really!

[ladylejean215]

I should think that if this is her family's land she's working, she'd be very proud to help take care of it. When you bust your butt and put your heart and soul into something like that, the effort is more than worthwhile.

[K4hl4n4mnell]

It also keeps old skills alive and makes us less dependent on metal machines. The ancients did feats that still confound us and that even our modern mechanized society cannot duplicate.

[jfuite]

Okay, clearly we are watching a someone who has done this before. Nice skills.

By watching her work, I sense that I would be stopping to sharpen the blade often - more to rest than anything else.

But the cost of oil would need to be, shall we say, VERY high for us to go back the the "good old days".

[crock703]

Especially considering that farmers could make their own biofuel using biomass or cooking oil. How much fuel do you really need to run a tractor each season?

[wyrdbrew]

Whetting the blade is required for proper use of the scythe. After a few minutes a burr develops on the blade which reduces the effectiveness and makes it harder to draw through the grass. Her technique is flawless. While it looks uncomfortable it is very easy to mow for long periods of time if your have good technique. If she had two scythes and someone to whet the blade while she was mowing with the other one she could probably mow for three or four hours straight before taking a break.

[retroactivism]

Can this be done with shorter grass? Will it work for us suburbanites who want crew cut lawns?

[wndrdog]

my Uncle (a brilliant engineer and dedicated post-peak-oil evangelist) has taken to finding and repairing old push mowers - the ones with the helix blades. Look 'em up on ebay - save the money you would have spent at the gym.

[tabbycat8911]

cool! I have a scythe but its too dull to cut anything.(I also have a sickle)great video!

[gierrmo]

The hay in this video is very very poor quality. Lets see it work on 10" tall pure bermuda. Impressive work but a tractor with a disc mower and tractor would cut the same area she actually cut in 7 minutes in <15 seconds. Human power is not cheap. I cut over 500 acres in the summer and there's no way I could afford to pay bodies to do it by hand.

[PlubbyDough]

To the young lady in the video: you are a unique being just beacuase you spun the scythe on your hand.

[Azathoth43]

As beautiful as any ballet.

[K6III]

Seems very inefficient. A bicycle lawn-mower could be much more efficient, particularly as it would target the much stronger leg muscles.

[kaivido]

Efficiency is relative. Did you ever try to cut tall grass like that with a bicycle lawn-mower, or any lawn-mower? The girl IS using her leg muscles to power her side-to-side movement. The strain on her arms is minimal with this technique. Of course, the scythe must be the right size for the user, and keeping the blade SHARP is crucial. Not all scythes are the same: the Continental European ("Austrian") design is far more ergonomic than the American pattern, but there's more to it than that...

[MustangDragon]

You're right, this uses total body power. It would be nice, however, if a left handed scythe existed. I have used a scythe myself, and the relief would be great to switch from one side to the other. ... and where can I find an Austrian scythe? Sounds interesting.

[NoCopywrite]

Just curious...how effective is scythe with short grass? I have never used a scythe before. Can you use it to maintain your 3-inch lawn every week, or is it only effective with tall grass.

[kakudmi]

We are all going to be learning this very very soon. Wanna drink that milk, eat cheese, enjoy your ice cream, how about butter....?

Well, cows need food in winter, so one of us has to cut down some grass to secure enough.

Watch and learn. It takes several weeks of such work for a single human, to feed two cows the whole winter.

[soulblade044]

i agree with this some people have become depended on certain technology some have forgoten the stenght that we have we can make this world a better place to live in stead of depending on thins that can have a negative effect on the planet aon society

[Azathoth43]

absolutely hypnotic!

[jjcproducer]

Thank you for making this video! It is the shape and color of the world we are facing with the dual destructive forces we face: peak oil and global climate change.

Kind regards,

John

[trainguydave]

Very well thought out, nicely filmed, and makes a profound statement on where society is going in the years ahead. Nicely done!  I can't wait for your next upload!

[169PercentTroof]

Face it: Unless the earth's population is reduced by 2 billion people over the next 10 years, we are going to be out of oil, food, and every other staple of life.

actually, the massive global war, conflict, starvation, famine, and disease that will result from the end of oil, will in fact naturally reduce the population.

[MrFacet]

I dunno what the link says but from my short experience: find somebody to help you buy the proper sized (and light) stick (senzenbaum), have a real goed teacher in hammering, and never lend it to a simpleton. Oh and gras is easiest to do in the morning, they say.

[MustangDragon]

In the early morning, grass has dew on it and is not easy to scythe. Best time is late morning to mid-day (yeah, you're gonna sweat).

[kaivido]

On the contrary, cutting with a scythe is easier in the early morning. This has far less to do with the dew than with the internal moisture content of the stems. If you try scything at mid-day, you will need to whet your blade AT LEAST TWICE AS OFTEN to achieve the same ease of cutting as if mowing at daybreak. No exaggeration. I have proven it many times, and the scythesmen of old knew it to be true: they would mow from daybreak until perhaps 9 am and do other things the rest of the day.

[MustangDragon]

OK. I only scythed for one summer, and frankly, it was a lonnnnng time ago (about 30 years). As for the subject of the video, indeed, I have seen hay prices rising due to the rise in the price of fuel for the cutting/bailing. I live on a horse farm, but we have to buy hay... not enough land to make our own.

[docidu]

All ya need to do is plant hemp instead of hay and ya got your oil problem solved..

[wahoonc]

The way we used to get our daily workout!

[videoabl]

great video, peter! thanks, andreas

[coyot2103]

If every craftsmne would do his work the same eay, wouldn't be this world different? Thank you very much for this example :)

Frank Vinkler, Czech, carpenter

PS: Since I was a kid, I grow up - thanks to my father - with scythe, but I'm only a disciple, but the next spring I'll find some meadows which will need to be mowed... And make my own snath of course:)

[drasechrisu]

Very well done! As Walter Blumauer says "impressive"!!

And the mowing is just as easy as it looks - I can tell.

Chrsitiane Lechner, Austria

[Prahlad39]

exceptional. thank you ...

[UnderseaCaveman]

Ok, we just need to invent one (Scythe) which can be "swung" clockwise as well. Today, we know we need a balanced workout (since we are getting one "involuntarily"...sort of).

Great Video

[wablumauer]

Impressive and correct

Walter Blumauer

[sciencegirl1]

All you need is a black cloak, HA

Peak oil is going to kill billions