[Dan.Tyler]

You can definitely get a competitive advantage if your bumpers are more rigid than others'.

You gain a higher ability to control movement while in pushing matches. If you were to fully laminate your pool noodles with tape or other binding (we've only ever used enough to hold the noodles up, per the spirit of FIRST), you would be able to interact with other bots on a whole new level. Similar, but reduced, results can be found when wrapping heavyweight cloth more tightly vs loose, light cloth.