You seem to know what you're doing, so let me ask your opinion. I believe that encrypted volumes (files, partitions, external media) are not as safe as full disk encryption. Information about the contents of those volumes can leak onto the unencrypted drive. In your example, playing FreakyPorn.avi with VLC would put the path of that file in the Recent Media list. At least with VLC you can disable it, but with a lot of programs you can't. So if you open WhistleBlowerEvidence.doc, the path to that will be in Recent Documents in Word. That's just one way data can leak. Browsing the FreakyPornPics folder with a file manager can put thumbnails on the unencrypted drive. That is why I don't believe encrypted volumes are safe, and I prefer FDE.