Kent--
I'm with you on this one. Ply bulkheads work very well. I've never heard of one failing. If you're worried about hard spots, a glued-in foam bulkhead is just as good. If you're worried about leaky hatches on deck, a VCP hatch is leakproof.

The foam option sounds like a water trap to me.

The bubble wrap has a lot going against it, not the least of which is that the buoyency it provides is only that of the volume of air IN the bubbles, not the volume of the roll. So you can take up ALL the space but get only (maybe) half the buoyency.

Loading gear through bulkhead hatches is awkward at best. If you want wooden deck hatches and are worried about leaks, why not fit tapered dry bags bow and stern? You can have watertight bulkheads and guarantee that your gear will stay dry.

Mike Scarborough
Friendship Kayak