diff --git a/include/ros_msg_parser/utils/variant.hpp b/include/ros_msg_parser/utils/variant.hpp
index 869a3f2..2de990d 100644
--- a/include/ros_msg_parser/utils/variant.hpp
+++ b/include/ros_msg_parser/utils/variant.hpp
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ class Variant
 
   void assign(const char* buffer, size_t length);
 
+  // Direct access to raw data. Undefined behavior if this variant holds a STRING
+  const uint8_t* getRawStorage() const;
+
 private:
 
   union {
@@ -166,6 +169,10 @@ inline BuiltinType Variant::getTypeID() const {
   return _type;
 }
 
+inline const uint8_t* Variant::getRawStorage() const { 
+  return _storage.raw_data.data(); 
+}
+
 template<typename T> inline T Variant::extract( ) const
 {
   static_assert (std::numeric_limits<T>::is_specialized ||