Of course, sometimes one needs to use off-route IFR.
Quite... and that's where most GA people hit things.
But I still think trying to conform as best one can is better advice than doing non-conforming IFR "properly", whatever that is.
"Conform as best" how, and to what?
Obviously if you make sure everybody remains VMC and with >10k vis, nobody is ever going to do a CFIT. But that's not how the world works, OCAS.
Why is it safe for me to fly in IMC for 50nm in the UK while waiting for London Info to get me onto London Control for the IFR clearance to climb into CAS (and hopefully to VMC on top), when it is not safe for me to do the equivalent thing in say Germany, where IFR in Class G is apparently illegal?
If I ever meet a German IR holder who says he has never flown in IMC in German Class G, I am going to fall over. If this ban on IFR in Class G was observed strictly, operations from non-IFR airports would grind to a halt, because you would more or less need CAVOK conditions. It's a joke.