"Steven Barnes" wrote
I do. I'm about half way through my ifr training (about 230 hours total
time over 3 years). My pesonal VFR minimums are 3,500 ovc, 3,000 bkn. I had
to divert once due to weather going from 4,000 bkn to 800 within 20 minutes.

First, a question - if you've seen weather go from 4,000 bkn to 800,
how is a 3,000 ft bkn minimum keeping you safe?

Second, an observation - I've seen it go from CAVU to below ILS
minimums (200 and 1/2) in less than 30 minutes.

Luckily I was right over an airport when I called ahead to my class C home
base. Fetched the plane the next day.

Just realize that when you're VFR, you're never far from an airport
and you can see the weather going bad as it happens. Little VFR-only
fields are all over the place, and in most of the US you can cruising
VFR, decide to bail, and be on the ground in less than 10 minutes -
meaning you don't have to be very good at predicting the weather and
monitoring trends to escape.

IFR, if you're cruising and decide to bail, you're looking at 20-30
minutes before you are on the ground. Further, you can't see what the
weather is doing when you're in the clouds or above them. Thus IFR
you are more dependent on being able to predict the weather and
monitor trends, not less.

Even so, once I get the rating, I'm betting my ifr minimums will still be
around the 2k agl mark (2-3 miles visibility).

In that case, you would benefit far more from some competent
instruction in how to fly marginal VFR than from an instrument rating.
Just my opinion as a practicing instrument instructor...

Michael