Myth # 16: Belays are required.
Belays are not mandatory. Double line work adds a huge degree of added safety, but belays can, more often than not, be hazardous.
In free space the payload can spin and tangle the two lines together into hopeless dysfunction. a rappeller on belay in free space may spin hopelessly in his belay. Climbing or rappelling a rope rigged side-by-side another can result in the same critical and deadly problem (Ellisons 1999).
Lipke’s Technical Rigger’s Guide discusses that at 40 degrees a main and belay (2 lines) become his recommended option, but under 40 degrees it is optional or negligible.
