Agreed 1st synchro is a wear item that needs replacement. Unfortunately it's due to the frictional nature of the old style synchros. They're not nearly as tolerant of abuse/ignorance as the modern synchros.
I remember years ago in my teens I was a porter/car washer at the local Acura store. Went for a service test drive with friend Tim who was a tech. He wanted me to drive & he would listen for stuff. While on the drive, I shifted into 1st at about 30 mph while coasting to a stop. Just pushed the clutch in, no rev match, and no release of clutch to engage the engine. Just kept the clutch in while we rolled along in "neutral" approaching the stop.
When I did it, as i'd done a number of times in the past, you could hear the high pitched zing of the synchros doing their magic to spin-up input & output shaft speeds. Sort of like a turbo spooling up. It took no effort on my part to stick the shifter in 1st. It just slipped right in w/out much effort if at all- pure Honda magic :D Tim said, "Hey, don't do that. You can blow up the synchros!" I had no idea since I was just a young kid still learning even the basics about cars. Ignorance and the trans allowed me to do it!
Agreed 100% that downshifting or any shifting for that matter is only done when necessary. Brakes are WAY cheaper than clutches and synchros!
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