UKC

If you're building a multipitch belay using the 'direct isolation loop' technique that David Coley describes in his book, do you:
- tie the loop in one of the ropes, and build the belay with both ropes back to this?
- tie a separate loop in each rope and build the belay back to these (sounds awkward)?
- tie the loop as one knot using both ropes, and build the belay back to this (doesn't quite sound right)?

I'm struggling to find a reason why option #1 is bad, but I'm worried I might have missed something.

In reply to the.last.thesaurus:

I assumed #1, and can't think of any reason why it's bad..... but also might have missed something.

In reply to the.last.thesaurus:
I've just started doing my trad belays like this, as there seems a huge amount of advantages, and no disadvantages.

I tried all ways you mention and settled for tying an alpine butterfly in both ropes together. So one knot, both ropes in together. Works really nicely. Reason against only using one rope for me was the imbalance in rope usage, so when you dismantle the belay, there's a lot of slack on one rope for your belayer to manage/take in, when you're already on belay which is a bit of a faff.(plus you've only one skinny rope in the belay. I prefer two, I'm sure one is perfectly safe, but why have one when you can have two ropes in and two connection points to your harness).

In reply to the.last.thesaurus:

I'd do the whole lot with one rope, neater, quicker and lots more dynamic - which is good as it reduces shock loading on the belay. As for imbalances, when your mates has 'taken in' you'll be tight and safe on one rope while he or she takes in the slack from the belay.

In reply to Murko Fuzz:

Obviously it all depends on the situation, but I'm not entirely sold on constructing the belay from one rope for anything other than the simplest of belays. I could see it being a right pain in the rear end with more than a couple of pieces, or if one piece was miles away.

In reply to Murko Fuzz: I do this too for the reasons you have already said, it also allows one rope to be free of the belay in case it needs to be used in an emergency situation.

In reply to the.last.thesaurus:

I have been thinking about this since reading it. And I thought that I would, where possible, use both ropes into one knot. My reasoning being that you are creating the power point, like 'the banshee' off of two bolts. If that makes sense.

In reply to the.last.thesaurus:

Just about anything is fine. I often use one rope for the DIL anchored to two nearby pieces, and then the second rope gets used for a counter piece or any piece that is a long way away and is tied to me not the DIL. In theory the reverso would stay locked even if the two pieces failed.