Steel draw on the first bolt?

Hello! Me again. Just got my first set of draws, after some excellent advice from some lovely people on this site. One thing that came up again and again was putting a steel carabiner on the first bolt rope side carabiner of the first draw. I thought this made a lot of sense right off the bat, but the more I think about it the more confused I get. The justification is that it helps keep rope wear down. My question- if the extra wear is due to falling, wouldn't you deck if you fall from the first bolt? In addition, I've heard some people recommend using a locker on the first draw as well. I was looking at the Edelrid bulletproof for the steel bottom draw, and the Grivel twingate for the "locking" first draw. Could somebody explain the reasoning behind a locker or a steel carabiner for the first bolt? 

Thank you!

Confused gumby

The steel doesn’t protect from falling. More the rubbing caused by lowering, the first draw often has the harshest angle on your rope. This pushes the rope into the carabiner, wearing it down and adding lots of aluminum dust into your rope too! Same logic goes for the anchor draws, steel on the first and last has made my ropes way cleaner. This is all just to make you think your gear is lasting longer and is completely optional for a first time rack.
A locker on first might make it too cumbersome to even want to use or fit nicely in a stick clip. The Edelrid Slider can be used with stick clips nicely. 

The wear on the first bolt is created by rope friction (and dirt) and the angle created by the belayer. It is pretty rare that the belayer is so close to the wall that they are standing directly under the first bolt, so when you fall above (let's say at the 5th bolt), or being lowered, the belayer is usually standing back from the wall a few feet and that first bolt will be pulled in an outward direction. 

A lot of my friends use a bulletproof on the bolt, its not 100% necessary but works well.

 A locker would just be if there is significant risk of injury in the very rare case that you fell on the first bolt and the rope / rock caused the carabiner to open. This is rare but has happened, for me I have never done this while sport climbing but I get why one might want to do this. I have been on routes where the bolt placement and rock below it caused the carabiner to rub on the rock and open, I either extend the piece or use a locker in this case (or analyze the terrain and determine the chance of falling is incredibly low).

This is also why when trad climbing you want that first piece to protect down (if you fall on it) and out (if you fall above it you don't want that piece to pop off the wall as the rope tugs it outward.)

Yes its a good idea and preserves the life of your rope and draws. Other than a draw you whip/lower on repeatedly, the three draws that take most of the damage from friction are your first bolt QD, and anchor draws. Your first, as mentioned, receives damage from the angle your belayer is at while lowering you and your anchor draws for obvious reasons. I have 3 steelies for this reason, and I got them to preserve the life of my QD rack and I love it. Formerly, my draws would wear out at an uneven/unequal rate because one draw might be placed on the first bolt multiple times and wear out quickly.

As for how it helps your rope, hard is easy just did a video on how quickly ropes wear out if they are dirty vs. new vs. washed. Dirty ropes wear out more quickly, and your qd’s wear out getting aluminum in your rope. It’s why you see a black streak when you whip, and why your hands turn black on a dirty rope. Steel wears less under friction than aluminum, thus keeping your rope cleaner and safer.

Awesome! Thank you all for the info. The lowering angle makes much more sense- somehow I didn't think people were repeatedly falling from the first draw enough to make it wear out sooner. I have two locking steel metolius D's for top roping off of, and will invest in a bulletproof for the first draw. I appreciate all the explaining! 

Petzl sells steel "regular" carabiner -
https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Operators/Anchors/DJINN-STEEL 

10 pack retails for ~90USD. 

I swapped these for rope side on a few of my QDs - use them for the 1st bolt and for lowering from anchors.