As a commuter pilot on the east coast, I have to say that no matter what the rules are, you have got to know where everybody is.
We fly our Dash 8 into non towered fields all the time. And on a nice, sunny, weekend afternoon, it can be very difficult.
I would usually make position reports from about 40 miles out. "Greenville traffic, Piedmont 4202, Dash 8, 40 miles to the southwest, will be overhead in 6 minutes, inbound for landing runway XX".
Once we got closer, I would just use "Dash 8". Not many people will know that Piedmont only flies Dash 8's.
It can be very difficult to get ourselves in the pattern on busy days. When there are 3 or 4 152's in a tight pattern, timing and communication are very important. I have often flown overhead at 200 KTS to position us safely, then drop the speed back to 130 kts.
We usually do a lot of communicating to the traffic. If someone makes a position report, I will respond "Cessna that is on a downwind, this is the Dash 8 about to be overhead from the SW, we see you and will fall in behind you". This way I know where he is, and he isn't afraid a turbo prop is going to run him over.
Is this proper? Probably not. But having a true understanding of where people are, and what they are doing is very important. Otherwise you are guessing where he is and hoping you can actually see him. Just because you have TCAS, and a clean window, doesn't mean you are going to see another plane.
As a Captain, I would often fly with new FO's. The would come into these airports making standard calls. Sometimes, that just doesn't work. Pilots make mistakes. Sometimes someone was new, or busy, or just forgot to include there location, or distance, or altitude. I would make sure that we asked that pilot for more information. Then we could usually identify them on the TCAS, which would help.
Also, when in a fast plane following a slow plane, we would sometimes ask their intentions if they didn't offer the information. Full stop? Touch and go? That helps us judge how much room to give them.
Flying the airlines have taught me a lot. The rules are 2nd to safety. I have actually turned off the radios while in the simulator, during a checkride, when dealing for a serious problem during high workloads. Obviously not for long, but we needed to fly the plane, not talk to ATC. We were actually praised for doing just that.
I'm not trying to say that I don't follow the rules, or that I talk like a trucker on the radio. Every situation is different, and as a pilot, we need to know when to step outside of the box and get the job done.
Fly the plane, be standard, but don't be afraid to throw the rules out the window. And also know that if you make fun of someone on the radio, you usually sound like more of an *** than the guy who made the mistake.
Just my opinion.
Steve