I am baffled by all this insistent talk of No IMC flying without a transponder, (although by all means use one if you have the money and inclination.)
99% of GA flying outside CAS is VMC, and there have been no recorded powered midairs in IMC since world war two, virtually all encounters occurring in VMC at low level. Many IMC and IR rated pilots make a specific point of flying IMC as much as possible, since statistically it is the safest place to be. Efforts should be concentrated in the low level VMC environment, not the high(er) level IMC environment