Peter R. wrote:
Maule Driver wrote:

However, when asked to ident, I don't say anything. I just ident. Even
if asked "Maule 30KS, squawk 1234 and ident", I ack with a squawk and an
Ident. The ident representing a positive acknowledgement

That is true if you are guaranteed to be in positive radar coverage when
the instruction is given. However, there are a couple of airports in NY
State out of which I fly IFR where radar coverage doesn't begin until about
4,000 ft AGL or so. The controller will often issue a request similar to
"upon reaching 5,000, ident." Since this could be one to a few minutes
out, I always verbally acknowledge the request.

Yes, I would do the same in that case. No question.