Level Attitude
I would be negligent if I sent a student pilot on a solo cross country flight if he/she did not know the MSA for the leg being flown, any pilot should know the MSA for the location of the aircraft this situational awareness stops people flying into hills.
Flying VFR into deteriorating conditions is a killer and knowing the MSA is part of the decision process that tells a pilot when to do a 180 turn.
If dual GPS (GTN650/750 typicly) is good enough for flight in MNPS airspace (Oceanic Navigation) then a single GPS should be good enough for a bit of navigation around western Europe if you have VOR & ADF, but you will probably only use the ADF to get the cricket scores. However keeping a good Nav log will enable a good DR position to be kept if the Nav equipment fails.
Telling an ATC unit that you have had a total navigation radio failure as soon as it happends should not require a PAN call, you should know your position due to the DR position from the Nav log you are keeping and ATC should get you on Radar quickly, as long as you are above the MSA you are not in danger and an aircraft under radar vectors (without radio nav equipment) is not in a situation that requires any sort of emergency status.
A pilot who fails to keep a nav log and fails to know the en-route MSA however is an emergency flying somewere to happen !