I found the inc/dec masterN commands to be a bit clumsy, especially considering that I pretty much just use 1 client in the master pane most of the time, sometimes using 2 when I wanted to alternate between two windows rapidly. I just submitted issue #577 on the google code issue tracker that includes a patch to add a new Message for changing the client count.
The Message is called "SplitMaster", and has no arguments. It sets the client count of the master pane to 1 if it's not currently 1, thus providing a quick way to get back to that setting. It setgs the client count for the master pane to 2 if it's currently 1, effectively making it a toggle between the two modes of a split master pane and an full size master pane.
I'm not sure if that's the proper way to submit patches. If not, please let me know what I need to do to submit it properly. If it is, could I get somoen to consider it and either merge it (with whatever fixes it requires) or let me know what I can do to get it merged?
Thanks,
Mike