Allen,
I'm not sure what your thoughts are at this point, but I can help to shed some light into how 971 did bumpers this past year. Below is a picture of our 2013 bumpers.
We actually did not have 8 latches all the way around, as you can see in the picture. Some of the latches intersected with some of the robot components, so we wouldn't have been able to access them. Also, the bumpers and latches don't always go together smoothly, and pieces can warp over time, so by the time we actually competed, only around 3-4 of the latches were actually hooked on. The rest were tied away so they wouldn't jostle around during the match.
We bought the latches from McMaster, but we ended up having the hooks made by a sheetmetal sponsor out of stainless steel, 0.090" thick iirc. We then riveted these onto the frame. We had issues with the hooks bending in 2012. The stainless steel hooks this year did not have the same problem.
This system held up reasonably well throughout the course of the season. Obviously we would have liked to attach the bumpers at more points, but it doesn't always end up that way. We ran into similar issues in 2012.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask me or another 971 member.
Kevin