Standad rope:
Trad Leader, "Hey have I passed mid point yet?"

Belayer, "uhh hmm..uhh hmmm I think so.. er uh well maybe not.. uhh not sure!".

Trad Leader,"Gee thanks!"

********
Bi-pattern:
Trad Leader, "Hey have I passed mid point yet?"

Belayer, "Nope."

Trad Leader,"Thanks!"
*****

Absolutley worth the money, no guessing or "re-stacking".

Standad rope:
Trad Leader, "Hey have I passed mid point yet?"

Belayer, "uhh hmm..uhh hmmm I think so.. er uh well maybe not.. uhh not sure!".

Trad Leader,"Gee thanks!"

I had a bi-color get stuck and I had to chop the last 12 feet or so, now the middle isn't the middle, so that sort of sucks.

: dark, no headlamp (ever been there?) You can thread a rappel and FEEL the center because the transition point feels a little wierd (rougher, bumpy) compared to the rest of the rope due to the weave change. Try finding the middle of a regular rope with your eyes closed......

Knowing the location of the middle of the rope is important in rappelling. An accident in Washington state last year drove this home. Two experienced climbers were rappelling from a site they had rappelled from previously. Their rope was plenty long enough. They visually checked that both ends were on the ground. The first guy started rappelling and soon one end of the rope went through his belay device. He fell and died. Conclusions: a high wind had whipped their rope after they lowered and moved one end off the ground; if they had the middle marked this would not have happened. After reading about this, I became more aware than ever about carefully marking the middle of the rope.

Here are the reasons you may want to have this feature:
1. Rapping and making sure the ends are down,
2. Leading and making sure you have enough rope to get to a belay,
3. Sport climbing and making sure your belayer understands how long the route is so he doesnt drop your ass when lowering off...
4. Aesthetics, some people may think it is cool....

In regards to #3. The belayer should be tied into the end of the rope. Period. No, if, ands, or buts.

Yup, that may be true, but lowering people off the ends of the rope happens every year. Just read Accidents in North America Mountaineering. If everyone climbed with bi-color ropes, a few less people would die each year.

If everybody paid attention and did what they were supposed (no, ifs, ands, or buts), we wouldn't need seatbelts either.

For the bi-color, does that mean it's worth it? Well, I realize that is a judgement call. If nobody climbed, there would considerably more deaths prevented each year. $20 is, I think, worth it, but as I mentioned before, it really has a lot to do with finances.

As far as marking the middle of the rope with tape, I routinely throw out this warning: tape can come off in a sticky ball and freeze up your rap device. Pretty bad scenerio when you are rapping in the rain. It can also slip. I met a guy in Yosemite who had a bad limp because the tape marking the "middle" of his rope slid about 20 feet without him realizing it [in].

In regards to #3. The belayer should be tied into the end of the rope. Period. No, if, ands, or buts.

bi-color ropes don't prevent people from rapping off the end of them or lowing their partner off and dropping them because they ran out of rope. just because your rope changes color in the middle doesn't mean its magically going to prevent any mishaps, paying attention to what you are doing and having good back ups like tying into the other end of the rope or tying a knot in the ends of the rope so it doesn't go through the belay device prevents accidents like that from happening.

No, it won't prevent all accidents, and I never said it would. It would help prevent a belayer from lowering someone off the end because it easy to see if more than half the rope is out. If you can see both bi-colors, its safe to lower. If you can't see both, it is not. Yes, it still relies on a belayer paying attention and it is nothing more than an additional safety backup in addition to everything else like putting a knot in the end (I see extremely few climbers who actually tie in when doing one pitch sport/cragging routes).

That said, I still believe 100% that if everyone climbed with a bi-color rope, there would be a few less deaths each year in the "stupid mistakes" category.

and in regards to #1 just because you have the midpoint of your rope dosen't mean your rope will touch the ground or next rap station. unless you can physically see that it reaches or you have first hand knowledge that it reaches don't assume you have enough rope. assumption is the mother of all f#!K ups, put knots in the ends of your rope for safety

As far as the belayer tieing in: Again, the safest way but hardly ever done at sport climbing areas which is where all of these accidents happen. I tie the end to my rope bag. Again, the belayer and climber need to be aware of what is going on.

As far as the belayer tying in: Again, the safest way but hardly ever done at sport climbing areas which is where all of these accidents happen. I tie the end to my rope bag. Again, the belayer and climber need to be aware of what is going on.

I agree with you that tieing knots in the end of the rapp rope is the safest. Actually, not climbing is far safer, or so I hear. Having retreated from above the great roof on the Nose, and another big wall that I had to set anchors on, I felt it was safer (read Faster) not to tie knots. The other issue for multiple rappels is that the rope could get blown around and I think the rope is easier to get unstuck when NOT tied. There was ample evidence of ropes stuck in flakes when I rapped off El Cap. Personally, I look at the ends and I look at where I am going and I pay close attention to where the hell I am going. I know all the books say to knot the ends, but on a big climb with many rappels I think the knot thing is knot the best alternative.