[Tom Line]

There is another bumper design concept, developed with what I would call a more comprehensive understanding of the rules, that has only been hinted at in these discussions (if you look carefully) and which I think will appear in significant numbers at competitions. So take off your lawyer hat, put on your Deer Stalker, and re-study the rules / comments.

Scott, are you perhaps talking about the idea of orienting your 6 inch bumper segment vertically? Since it only need be 5 inches wide in that case, you do gain 2 inches of opening in that manner.

However, there are several rules that may prohibit that configuration and make it reasonably clear that the intent is to NOT have your 6 inch bumper oriented vertically. Specifically:

B. BUMPERS must use a stacked pair of 2-1/2 inch “pool noodles” as the bumper material.
C. Each BUMPER segment must be backed by a piece of 3/4-inch thick by 5-inch tall piece of plywood.

They're not stacked if the bumper is vertical, and 5 inches tall is pretty specific.