So, I have a buddy that shifts from 1st to 3rd when around town.
 

He grenaded 2nd back in the day when he did AX and DE from hard shifts and a high horse power mated to the 915. Thinks he is saving 2nd gear. His rebuild included a Wevo internal plate like the 930 has, new bearing shell and sleeve done by Aase brothers.

Smart or not?

I go from first to fifth all the time in my 912. I am saving the other three for when 1 and 5 fail. I would assume that he is neither over revving first before he shifts nor lugging when in 3rd so it should be fine. Smart? Where is the fun in it though?

lots of folks do this...not really controversial. it is sop in older Ferraris.

i do it. sometimes. usually 1,2,4 or 5. depending on what car i drive. the 930 i may go 1 to 3 and stay there.
if i am only going to go 45mph why go thru all the gears.
i dont lugg the engine as in trying to really accelerate from a low speed in 3rd or 4th.
30 maybe 35 mph in 1st then to 3rd and slowly up to 40 or even 45.
why use a gear just to accelerate 5or 10mph then shift again.

The old generation from the WW2 era used to shift like this. My Brother bought a 56 Austin Healey 100 in about 1962 and my Dad would take it out once in a while and skip most gears. Would really make my Brother mad. My Dad was a lazy fool who just thought you do not need all the gears.

My wife's Mini S is constantly telling her to go from 2-4 or 4-6 ...irritating but not a new concept.

Your friend doesn't know what he is talking about. He is greatly accelerating the synchro wear on 3rd.

Ronnie just texted me. Wants me to ask if you have any valid hands-on transmission work experience?

Hey, just passing it along. Not trying to stir up controversy. He's odd sometimes.

Matt is "hands on" ALL the time, so I hear!!!

PS for "on topic" content - I never skip gears when shifting . . . not with a car, motorcycle, or anything of the sort - definitely do not understand how that could be beneficial for anything.

I always row up and down on all my cars forever. It's what I was taught.

Nope. All my experience is invalid.

I had to shift 1st to 3rd the whole way home(15 minutes really) tonight; I think I lost 2nd gear or just can't shift into 2nd at all like it isn't even there.

Expand on "like it isn't even there"

Do you hit a wall? I have had third gear balk on me when trying to get the shifter to notch in there.

There's minimal wear on the synchros when upshifting. The engine speed decreases which makes synchro speed matching less of a chore. In normal driving, the load on gears is less than at full throttle, but there's a chance the load on the engine will increase if vehicle speed is low and the engine doesn't end up at the correct operating speed.

Most synchro wear is caused when downshifting, and the most speed disparity occurs in 1st and 2nd gears, less so as torque reduction decreases 3rd > 5th. Double-clutching will minimize synchro wear. Yes, synchros are wear items.

Sherwood

I know patz friend.....accelerates crisply from the stop/light to 5k to make sure he doesn't get cut off by the Asshat Prius trying to get ahead to make the right turn at the next stop light, THEN does third. Drives me nuts but no lugging.

I think it's a bad habit. I've done the 2nd from a stop to 3rd on occassion.....but I have a lightened cab with a 3.6.

5k is almost perfect for the 1-2 shift on a 915. The synchros have to do almost no work changing the speed of the free spinning idler. Shift into 2nd much lower than that and the synchro actually has to spied up the free gear. Shift to 3rd at 5k and it still has some work to do. Less wear on things putting it into 2nd.

But if you are done accelerating and once you enter 3rd you are at your blvd cruising speed your aren't really doing any harm. It's just synchro wear. It's not going to blow up your gearbox.