Hooray! Yes, vec() was the function I was looking for, indeed. This will avoid the bitstring solution altogether, something which nearly everyone has recommended to me up to this point.

Thank you, BrowserUk, for restoring my faith and showing me the light. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to wait until perl6 (and hope that it included stronger typing in this fashion..) I'll work on the C-ish thinking, as well.

Off to check perldelta to see when vec() arrived...

Cheers,
-Jason