Left handed scythe?

Hey all you experienced scythe users,

I'm wondering about left handed scythes: I am left handed, but I'm not clear that one hand does so much more than the other that a left handed blade would be needed.  I tried a (way to heavy) American scythe as a child, and although I didn't get very far, I didn't feel like it was wrong to hold it in the right handed fashion.  None the less, I have seen left handed blades for sale.

Anyone have experience with left handed blades?  Are the lefties out there more comfortable going left handed?

Some years ago, I made a point of becoming ambidextrous. Because I can get more work done on the farm if I alternate handedness. My hoes, baskets, weeds, vegetables, and machete are inherently ambidextrous. A scythe isn't...

I am left handed but I use my scythe with right handed blades, because the Marugg Company catalog that I was ordering from had a very limited selection of left handed blades. At first I was concerned that it might be difficult, but I quickly got totally comfortable with using a scythe right handed. My best guess is that any lefty could learn to use a scythe right handed fairly quickly. I think that if you feel like you can get used to using it right handed, that is what you should do, because I think it is highly probable that the selection of right handed blades will always be much more extensive than for left handed. Plus, it will be more versatile because other right handed people will be able to use it. I would be curious to find out what you end up doing and how it works out for you.

When I reflect on favorite musicians of mine that play their instrument in the non-dominant-hand way (Ringo, Peter Prescott, Robert Fripp, Dave Lombardo, Kurt Cobain, Paul Simon), I can't help but think that it doesn't matter. Having said that, I imagine getting my left handed six year old daughter a lefty scythe if she ever wants one.

When I took my teacher training course from Sensenverein Oesterreich in 2011, they had a lefty scythe there for us to use (we were all righties). I found it immensely valuable to try out a lefty scythe because muscle memory was almost completely eliminated and I had a chance to start anew. I'd recommend this to anyone as it helped me understand right-handed mowing better..

I am left handed and use a right handed scythe with out difficulty . Both hands are important

It's an asymmetrical tool, but both sides of the body are used in roughly equal measure.

A note on that too-heavy American you tried long ago: chances are it was dull, poorly adjusted, and used improperly, and the snath was likely one made for bush work. American snaths can usually be shaved down to 2lb 12oz or less, depending on your intended mowing conditions. I've put together an American scythe before that weighed 4lb 4oz including a 30" grass blade and all the iron hardware.

I didn't even consider that there was a handedness to using a scythe. I need to find a place where I could try both so I can decide. I write left, golf left, bat left but use a knife, scissors and pretty much everything else right handed.

I have a hard time seeing how using a scythe could be inherently ambidextrous.  Other activities that involve swinging, such as with a baseball bat or golf club, are done in either a right- or left-handed fashion.  Even when splitting wood, when the swing is vertical, the maul is held in either a right- or left-handed grip (depending on which hand is on top).

Yes, scything involves swinging in two directions, but I've spent the bulk of my swinging-things life directing force in a particular direction (to the left, as a righty), and I can't imagine swinging a scythe blade the other direction without looking like a baffoon.  If I were a lefty, I would certainly make a point of hunting down a left-handed scythe.