I understand the logic of what you're saying, and I'm inclined to agree on the proposed solutions, which I will try as outlined above. At the same time there are two points I'm also considering:
1. I doubt my buddies are going to change their profiles, so I don't really want to extend my time too much beyond what they'll be doing. Not that I'm going to bend myself just because they're already on the boat, or that they won't wait, but you know... within reason
2. The guys I dive with pretty much all run the same profiles, and some of them have been doing so for a mighty long time & hundreds if not 1000s of tech dives. Which is not to say that it's right, current or will work for me, but they've never been bent (or been treated for it anyway), which seems to say they do work (for them)
So I'm happy to change my profile but I believe I can probably find something that works for me which isn't too far from where I started