I’ve been living on the edge and raising the nose-wheel for 20 years in all aircraft I’ve flown that will let me do it.
Agreed that in some cases for me a strong crosswind from the left will mean that I need to leave it on the ground. The worst case scenario is a strong left crosswind, on grass on a rough runway, that can be a sticky situation at the best of times in the aircraft that I fly.
With 100% certainty I can say that this technique has saved me from more than one prop strike and a damaged nose wheel.
In some aircraft such as the smaller training Jabiru’s, it is highly advantageous to reduce weight on the nose as the nose wheels are somewhat “square” and if you’re not 100% flat, the aircraft can ride on the edge of the nose-wheel and spear off the side of the runway, which I have seen students do multiple times with the loss of the aircraft ensuing.
The number of bent and broken nose wheels on the Soar Foxbat and Tecnam fleet is also indicative of the need to be gentle on the nose wheels and to employ techniques to minimise damage.
I agree with your night comments though, you need to be more clinical and operate by the numbers rather than feel. Luckily for many aside perhaps from those operating out of Lilydale, a takeoff at night on a rough grass field is not overly common in the scheme of things, so traditional manufacturer techniques can be employed.
I swear that I have dejavu and that either you or someone else pretty much wrote a very similar post some years ago.