*Huh, I appreciate the advice but I won't be doing it that way at all.  Far too many changes to the geometry going on right now, I'd be correcting the UVmap and rig every 30 minutes.

Hmm...What problems are you having with the mesh?  See,  your mesh should be established at the 400 to 1000 poly stage and readied for edgelooping.  That includes hands and head.