I'm interested in different approaches to continuous, hard, (or reasonably hard) sparring.

Is it better to dedicate one day a week to sparring and go balls to the wall with it...or do it for part of every, or most classes? I'm really not sure which way I prefer...curious as to what you guys think are the best structures; or at least what you prefer.

What do you prefer for safety gear? (Of course this depends on experience, but shin pads, head gear, yeah, nay?)

Is hard contact once a week better, or more medium contact several days a week? How many fresh guys will you put in front of one fighter, (new guy each round)? Do you go until his form gets sloppy, or do you go until his gas is spent and can't defend?

What are good ways to structure sparring sessions and what are bad ways?

To the fighters/coaches...

If you have a fight coming up; (assuming this is amateur and you can't do a full fledged 8 hour a day training camp), how would you alter your approach to sparring?

Point sparrers need not apply.
Just kidding...