Wiggy, I wholeheartedly agree with you. What my point is, is that before I went on the maritime survival course I had this strange idea that once you're clear of the aircraft and have inflated your life jacket, a warm and fuzzy feeling will descend on you and you are safe no matter what happens. Or, put it in other words, I had never looked beyond the point where I would exit the aircraft and inflate the lifejacket. I never made a realistic assessment on the sort of environment I would be in after a succesful ditching and the challenges that I would face.
And to get back on topic, that's the kind of thing the cabin crew doesn't tell you about in their safety brief either. :-)
Now that I've done the survival course I know that once you're clear of the aircraft, the battle for survival (mostly the battle against hypothermia) is only beginning. You need to have all the odds stacked into your favour, and delaying the inflation of your life vest might just help you in case you need to do something. Swim to a raft and climb into it, for instance. Or help somebody else put on a life jacket properly.
In the sea, at night, in winter, with no immediate chance to get into a raft I would not hesitate and inflate immediately. Then huddle to stay warm and hope rescue arrives before it's too late.
Good tip on the deflation too. I'll try and remember it, hoping I'll never need that knowledge...
Smell, I agree with you too and that's maybe another reason that passengers don't pay attention. Commercial aviation has an excellent safety record. Emergencies are very rare by themselves and in a real emergency, I'd estimate that 98-99% either end in a succesful landing where all passengers can walk away at their leasure (taking their hand luggage with them...) or end in certain death for all aboard, and only 1 or 2% leads to a situation where the actions of the cabin crew and/or passengers make the difference between living or dying. The odds are far, far worse on the drive to the airport, and did you ever see a taxi driver do a safety brief?