Xenia,
This all seems to be getting a bit over-heated! I have been trying hard to formulate what I intended to be a rational discussion of the value and pros and cons of different safety equipment / procedures from the perspective of a very frequent passenger. In the last couple of years I have spent as much of my life in planes as many cabin crew so I think that my safety there is something on which I have the right to an opinion.
Unfortunately people seem to be taking my comments as an attack on cabin crew, which couldn't be further from the truth! My comment about pedantry was specifically in reply to Skypryncess who obviously felt the need for a clearer distinction between what is governed by regulation, and what is at the discretion of the airline.
I would be very interested to hear if cabin crew (particularly those with some expertise in this area such as yourself) have a further info or experience on the tradeoffs between cost and safety, and I had assumed (I hope correctly) that cabin crew might be interested in hearing from some SLF on this topic. My apologies if this is not the case - let me know, and I won't post in this forum again.