bose:
What world am I flying in at the moment then mate?!?
The one where I don't fly IMC if I can't get a service! If I really needed to be somewhere and for whatever reason I wouldn't be able to get a service on a claggy day I'd drive! To be honest, I don't fly IMC much when flying recreationally anyway, and it's not exactly the most enjoyable of things to do - satisfying when you get it right though, I know.
I strongly suspect that you do a lot more private flying IF than I do, so I respect your experience there. Whilst I consider it somewhat foolhardy (despite the big sky theory), it is only the lives of yourself, your own passengers at risk and anyone else flying similarly at risk - I trust that if your aeroplane is IFR capable, you'll be squawking, and other aircraft flying in IMC who ARE receiving a radar (although not a procedural, obviously) service will therefore know about you.
I do fly in IMC a fair bit in my working life though, and would probably not be doing so much longer if I didn't have a bloody good reason for not having a service while doing so!