Good deal, man. Remember that a fall on ice is really deadly serious, and take is easy accordingly.

Freedom of the Hills is very good, and more modern books like Leubben's ice climbing book and Connallay's Mountaineering Handbok are good reading.

I have heard thats a good book. And I know that falls can be dangerous, I know of some people falling and really hurting their ankles. But so far I have never fallen, and I hope not to

well i know that you`ve heard this many times before and we all know that climbing in nature has it`s own risks but always keep in mind that when you try to find a route in hike pay attention to the existing paths.. because if they are there, there is a reason for that that you might not be able to see that reason right away.... in climbing methods it`s the same thing... use of screamers and QD`s is not a matter of fasion... i`m a minimalist my self but when you are like me you should pay an extreme attention to see the line between being minimalist and going towards suicide.... in your particular question... if you wanna climb ice then should always have screamers in ADDITION to QD`s since it`s more likely to place poor anchors on ice due to ice quality, surface below the ice, thickness and ... so in ice climbing, in case of a fall there is a great (almost always) chance that the anchor it self fails before the QD`s sling or the any of the biners. this happens because ice is not capable of bearing forces equal to the capacity of the rock (excluding the exceptions)
so you HAVE TO use a system or device to reduce the forces on the anchor to a minimum to prevent an anchor failure.. in order to do that you should have SOMETHING that absorbs that shock force and protect the anchor.... that SOMETHING would be fall arrester biner sling or shock absorber QD or screamer (i thing you use the word screamer for that because we dont use the word!) so before you try something new always be sure that you understand every thing about what you wanna do and my suggestion is that you should stick to what that works because there is a reason for that , which you would understand if you take your time to understand it..............i said too much i guess but one final thing is that i think that you should talk to an experienced person to arrange a couple falls for you so you can understand how does it feel and how hard it can get ( again DO NOT DO IT ON YOUR OWN OR IN A NATURAL ROUTE) you also might wanna watch pictures of tests on equipment and failure results............ thats all that i think and i wrote too much because i believe that your health worths more

Thanks for the advice. And I have been to a climbing gym a few times, and taken some falls, and those were scary even on a sure-set anchor, it would be nearly a heart attack if I fell and my anchors failed.

Rope drag and anchor failure are potential issues of this approach. So what you are wondering about is whether it makes sense to save a couple of bucks attaching the carabiner directly to the anchor point. No it does not.
You seem to be just starting out. Whenever you are leading, you would do best to be with a more experienced partner who has the basic required equipment. For two reasons: you still need mentoring to lead safely, and you don't have enough gear. As you learn to lead safely, and gradually buy gear, these problems will be solved. It will take a few years.

BTW, of all my ice climbing gear, the runners and carabiners make up about 5% of the cost of gear. Ropes are expensive, boots are expensive, tools are expensive, ice screws are expensive- runners and carabiners are relatively cheap on that scale.

I was just wondering if there was anything wrong with it, but now I know not to do it. I believe I have all the gear I need, so far I have:
-165' 10.2mm dynamic rope
-2 Trango Mantis Lightning ice tools
-BD Sabretooth crampons
-BD half dome helmet
-a pair of Garmont GTX boots
-8 BD turbo express ice screws
-10 BD quickwire quickdraws
-about 7 slings
-a whole ton of accesory cord
-6 BD locking carabeaners
-8 MadRock wire-gate carabeaners
-4 BD runners

And obviously a harness and some other odds and ends. But I think this is about everything I need, After reading all this I definitely need get some screamers though.

The problem with falling while leading on ice is that you're covered in pointy objects. I make good placements, but I don't fall on non-vertical ice because I don't want to get a screw in my kidney, a crampon in my femoral artery, or a pick in my skull on the way down. I basically consider leading on WI3 and easier soloing with a rope for the benefit of the second(s).

I haven't fallen on steeper ice, but I push a little harder and I think I risk popping off sometimes. Nothing like I risk on rock, but more than on easy ice. But again - only when my screws look bomber, there's no chance of decking, and it seems highly unlikely it'll be bouncy on the way down.

yeah, I know the dangers and risks, but the fun is just..... But anyways, the only part I'm worried about falling is that my frontpoints might catch on the way down and really hurt my leg.

scottmitch wrote:so lets say that rope drag is not an issue

why is a trad draw better than a quickdraw in a bomber screw placement

Wandering routes and zipper effect. A short sport type quickdraw will be pulled in a radically different direction than an extended alpine draw.

At least that's how I understand it.

When I climb ice I don't typically zigzag, But I will keep that in mind. I do however put in a longer draw right before a difficult part such as a bulge.