That is my view of the IMCr....a worthwhile rating which if used as a get out of jail free card, may just save your bacon
Englishal I agree with most of your points . . . . but not the one above ! Pilots who hold the 'badge' but don't maintain currency are best to avoid IMC at all costs. I may be a particularly poor example, but I find my instrument skills decay at an alarming rate. Just six weeks is enough to go off the boil. If I left it three months, say, then I would no longer regard myself as 'rated' and would do at least an hours sortie with a current mate to get back in the saddle.
This view is supported by Bose's comment (I think it was) that there are a fair number of accidents involving expired IMCrs. This is the worst of all worlds - you think you can do it but the reality is different.
I therefore guess I am agreeing with Bose and Julian Storey that the best way around this is to adopt the rolling currency solution. However, I prefer the self imposed method rather than a statutory licensing requirement !
Out of interest, what is everyones' view on the number of IMC rated pilots who are, in a practical sense, current? i.e regular IMC, or at least 4 hours a year and one flight in the last three months (which must be about as minimal as you could get to be current, wouldn't you say?) My guess is that only about 25% maintain it while the rest see it as a badge. I may be over optimistic in this assessment !