QDM:
I fly single engine IMC quite frequently and keep reasonably current. When a flight is likely to include a significant amount of IMC, or even VFR on top of overcast, I always take a hand held, battery GPS with me. This will allow us to cope with electrical or vacuum or pitot/static failure reasonably well. It would also help greatly if we ever (heaven forbid) lost both electrics and vacuum. However it is important, as I learned from experience, to make sure your rechargeable batteries are well topped-up!
Mattpilot:
You said your tale happened on the first flight of your instrument rating course. I assume you already held an IMC rating and were in practice at partial panel flying. If not, you were very, very lucky. Nobody reading this thread should assume an gyro instrument failure in IMC (including a go around and two approaches) is a doddle. It isn't, it's a potential killer. I'm also surprised that your instructor had only 14 hours IMC, I thought there was a substantial IRI pre-qualification?? I suspect your post is a wind-up (and I'm falling for it) but the problem is that other pilots may get the wrong, and dangerous, idea of what can be safely done with limited training in IMC.
Drauk:
To answer your original question: Yes, in the first couple of years of getting the IMC rating, I kept current and flew in the conditions you described. However, I was advised to do the IR training. I did, and the benefit was very worthwhile.
Also, I suggest, that except during training (and post-qualification sessions when you extend yourself further), you should not be flying IMC unless you can cope with the workload. Therefore the rhs person, in a single pilot aircraft, should be a bonus who can help if something goes wrong. In normal flying, he/she should do no more than monitor what's going on. The biggest benefits come from a)simulator practice before you go to familiarise yourself with any new approaches, SIDs or STARs and b) an autopilot, which does far more than the rhs to reduce fatigue and provide extra capacity.